Moody’s withdraws national scale ratings of 108 Russian firms

MOSCOW, Mar 18 (PRIME) -- International rating agency Moody’s has withdrawn national scale ratings of 108 Russian companies, the agency said in a statement on Friday.

“Moody's has withdrawn the ratings for its own business reasons,” it said.

According to a law passed earlier by Russia, the big three, Moody’s, Fitch, and Standard & Poor’s, will be able to issue national scale ratings after mid-2017 only if they launch Russian affiliates that would be free of external geopolitical influences.

Moody’s will unlikely launch an affiliate and will instead stop issuing national scale ratings, Ian Linnell, the chief analyst at Moody’s, said earlier.

The agency said in early March that it will revoke about 150 national-scale ratings in Russia in 2016.

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