Yesterday, on December 23rd, the international rating agency named Moody’s was reported to have cu Gazprom’s rating from Ваа1» down to «Ваа2 with a negative forecast. It should be noted that Gazprom is a Russian energy heavyweight feeding the most of Europe with natural gas, Market Leader reports.
This means that the operating environment in the Russian Federation is currently deteriorating at a fast pace, Masterforex-V Academy reports. This negative tendency is expected to preserve for a long time period. It is not accidental since Russia is currently witnessing a flight of capital triggered as well as growing deficits and an economic slowdown triggered by never ending Western sanctions and extremely low oil prices (oil is am major source of income for the Russian budget). With that said, the economic and financial prospects of the Russian Federations are getting gloomier, thereby forcing rating agencies to downgrade its ratings as well as the ratings of most of its companies, corporations and financial institutions.
The exerts working for Moody’s report that on top of the mentioned triggers, the decision made resulted from last week’s decline in the rating flow of Russian non-sovereign bonds (denominated in foreign currencies) from А3 down to Ваа2. This is the ceiling for the companies. So, the rating decided to downgrade the ratings for fear that Russian companies would be unable to access foreign currencies to service their foreign debts as Russia’s foreign currency reserves are running low.
Another reason for the decision to downgrade the ratings is the current volatility of the Russian Ruble. as well as the risks of a deeper crisis in Russia.
Still, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch seem to be not planning similar downgrades. Probably, this is one of the few factors backing the current consolidation in the market of Gazprom’s stock. The price is fluctuating within a price range close to 133,69 RUB per share. If to consider the mentioned info, we are likely to see a a price drop in the market of Gazprom’s stock in the near future.
