SYKTYVKAR, November 15 (Itar-Tass) —— The International ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service will make in December a decision to confirm or to increase the credit rating of the Komi Republic, the agency’s representative said during Tuesday’s meeting with Deputy head of the Republic and Komi Finance Minister Vladimir Tukmakov.
The international experts stated that the republican government steadily meets financial obligations and the region has an upward dynamics of the investment activity.
In their opinion, the Komi Republic keeps the positions of the region with a high investment and financial potential.
Over the current autumn, this is already the second meeting of the republican deputy head with representatives of the international analytical agencies. Two weeks ago, Tukmakov had talks with experts of the Fitch Ratings agency.
In 2010, Moody’s confirmed the republic’s credit rating at the national scale at the Aa2.ru level, as well as affirmed Komi’s rating at the international scale in the foreign and local currencies at the Ba2 “stable” level.
As for the Fitch ratings, it confirmed the Komi Republic’s long-term credit ratings in foreign and national currencies at the BB level and its short-term ratings in the foreign currencies at the B level. Simultaneously, the agency affirmed the national long-term rating of the region at the AA-(rus) level. The forecast of all long-term ratings was stable.
The Komi Republic is situated in the far northeast of the European part of Russia within the boundaries of the Pechora and Mezen-Vychegda plains, the Central and Southern Timan, and the western slopes of the Urals (Northern, Subpolar, and Polar Urals).
The Komi Republic is bordered on the west, northwest, and north by Arkhangelsk Region; on the east by the Yamal-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi autonomous areas; on the southeast by the Sverdlovsk Region; on the south by the Perm Region and on the southwest by the Kirov Region. The total length of the republic's boundaries is 4,415 kilometres.
The Komi Republic covers an area of 416,800 square kilometres. It extends up to 1,275 kilometres from southwest to northeast, 785 kilometres from north to south, and 695 kilometres from west to east.
The republic possesses a unique combination of mineral resources in terms of reserves, deposition conditions, variety, and quality. Experts have estimated the gross value of the republic’s mineral reserves at eleven trillion U.S. dollars, or eight percent of Russia’s probable potential.
The republic's mineral resources include coal, oil, gas, bauxite, titanium ores, salts, gold, diamonds, ores of nonferrous and rare metals, fluorite, shale oil, mineral waters, and building materials. Fuel and energy resources are of special importance (up to 97 percent of the total potential) and will continue to dominate in the near future.
The Pechora coalfields and the Timan-Pechora oil and gas province have been fairly extensively developed. A number of ore deposits of the Timan Ridge and the Northern and Polar Urals are ready for development, and a search for mineral resources is being carried out in the Vychegda Basin.
The government is carrying out an active policy of preservation and renewal of the republic’s natural resource potential, especially vital resources such as land, water, fish, and flora.
The republic’s natural systems are also of interest for recreational and therapeutic purposes and tourism.