Moscow, January 22, 2016 -- Moody's Interfax Rating Agency has today placed the national scale ratings
(NSRs) of 8 Russian non-financial corporates on review for downgrade.
Moody's Interfax is majority-owned by Moody's Investors Service
(MIS).
A full list of ratings affected by this action is provided at the end
of this press release.
Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on moodys.com
for information on Global Scale Rating.
RATINGS RATIONALE
Today's decision to place the NSRs of 8 Russian non-financial corporates
on review for downgrade follows the review for downgrade of their global
scale ratings (GSRs) by MIS. Please see respective MIS press releases
of 22 January 2016 for details https://www.moodys.com/research/--PR_342628
and https://www.moodys.com/research/--PR_342641
FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE RATING REVIEW
Although all issuers in integrated oil and gas, independent exploration
and production, oilfield services and mining sectors have been adversely
affected by declining commodity prices, severity varies substantially
by issuer. Accordingly, the range of possible outcomes upon
conclusion of the review for given issuers varies from possible confirmation
of ratings to downgrades. Moody's expects to conclude the review
by the end of the first quarter.
LIST OF AFFECTED RATINGS
On Review for Downgrade:
..Issuer: Bashneft
.... Corporate Family Rating (Local Currency),
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently Aa1.ru
..Issuer: Tatneft PJSC
.... Corporate Family Rating (Local Currency),
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently Aa1.ru
..Issuer: OAO Novatek
.... Corporate Family Rating (Local Currency),
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently Aa1.ru
..Issuer: RussNeft
.... Corporate Family Rating (Local Currency),
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently Baa1.ru
..Issuer: JSC Holding Company METALLOINVEST
.... Corporate Family Rating (Local Currency),
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently Aa2.ru
..Issuer: Nord Gold N.V.
.... Corporate Family Rating (Foreign Currency),
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently Aa3.ru
..Issuer: MMC Norilsk Nickel, PJSC
.... Corporate Family Rating (Local Currency),
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently Aa1.ru
..Issuer: Neftserviceholding LLC
.... Corporate Family Rating (Local Currency),
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently A2.ru
The principal methodology used in rating Bashneft and Tatneft PJSC was
Global Integrated Oil & Gas Industry published in April 2014.
Other methodologies used include the Government-Related Issuers
methodology published in October 2014.
The principal methodology used in rating OAO Novatek and RussNeft was
Global Independent Exploration and Production Industry published in December
2011.
The principal methodology used in rating JSC Holding Company METALLOINVEST,
Nord Gold N.V. and MMC Norilsk Nickel, PJSC was Global
Mining Industry published in August 2014.
The principal methodology used in rating Neftserviceholding LLC was Global
Oilfield Services Industry Rating Methodology published in December 2014.
Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for
a copy of these methodologies.
Moody's Interfax Rating Agency's National Scale Ratings (NSRs) are
intended as relative measures of creditworthiness among debt issues and
issuers within a country, enabling market participants to better
differentiate relative risks. NSRs differ from Moody's global scale
ratings in that they are not globally comparable with the full universe
of Moody's rated entities, but only with NSRs for other rated debt
issues and issuers within the same country. NSRs are designated
by a ".nn" country modifier signifying the relevant
country, as in ".ru" for Russia. For further
information on Moody's approach to national scale ratings, please
refer to Moody's Rating Methodology published in June 2014 entitled "Mapping
Moody's National Scale Ratings to Global Scale Ratings".
ABOUT MOODY'S AND MOODY'S INTERFAX
Moody's Interfax Credit Rating Agency (MIRA) specializes in credit risk
analysis in Russia. MIRA is a joint-venture between Moody's
Investors Service, a leading provider of credit ratings, research
and analysis covering debt instruments and securities in the global capital
markets, and the Interfax Information Services Group. Moody's
Investors Service is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:
MCO).
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to the credit rating action on the support provider and in relation to
each particular credit rating action for securities that derive their
credit ratings from the support provider's credit rating.
For provisional ratings, this announcement provides certain regulatory
disclosures in relation to the provisional rating assigned, and
in relation to a definitive rating that may be assigned subsequent to
the final issuance of the debt, in each case where the transaction
structure and terms have not changed prior to the assignment of the definitive
rating in a manner that would have affected the rating. For further
information please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the
respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this credit rating action,
and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
the associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
The below contact information is provided for information purposes only.
Please see the ratings tab of the issuer page at www.moodys.com,
for each of the ratings covered, Moody's disclosures on the
lead analyst and the Moody's legal entity that has issued the ratings.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued
the rating.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Artem Frolov
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Interfax Rating Agency
7th floor, Four Winds Plaza
21 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya St.
Moscow 125047
Russia
Telephone: +7 495 228 6060
Facsimile: +7 495 228 6091
Victoria Maisuradze
Associate Managing Director
Corporate Finance Group
Telephone: +7 495 228 6060
Facsimile: +7 495 228 6091
Releasing Office:
Moody's Interfax Rating Agency
7th floor, Four Winds Plaza
21 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya St.
Moscow 125047
Russia
Telephone: +7 495 228 6060
Facsimile: +7 495 228 6091
Moody's Interfax reviews for downgrade national scale ratings of 8 Russian non-financial corporates