LONDON, February 5. /TASS/. Moody's Investors Service downgraded its Structured Finance collateral outlook for Russia to negative from stable.
Anticipated weak GDP growth of -5.5% in 2015, rising unemployment and falling real wage levels will lead to an increase in arrears and defaults of SF collateral, Moody's said.
In January, the agency cut the long-term ratings of Russia’s state-owned lenders Sberbank, Vnesheconombank (VEB) and the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending by one notch to Baa3 from Baa2. The rating cut to Baa3, the lowest investment-grade level under Moody’s classification, followed Russia’s sovereign rating downgrade.
Moody's also downgraded ratings of Transneft, Russia’s biggest oil pipeline operator, to Baa3. Gazprom's foreign-currency ratings were also downgraded to Baa3 while its local-currency ratingswere downgraded to Baa2.
The ratings of seventeen Russian regions and cities were also downgraded. The regions that received the downgrade are Khanty-Mansiysk, Samara, Chuvashia, Krasnoyarsk, Komi, Omsk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Krasnodar, Belgorod, Mordovia and Vologda. Three cities - Krasnodar, Omsk and Volgograd. Moody's has also put Moscow Region and Mordovia for a downgrade review, due to possible worsening of their credit abilities under a rising risk.