Alushta, September 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Independent Rating Agency (IRA, Kyiv) founded with the participation of Russia's National Rating Agency (NRA, earlier NAUFOR RA, Moscow), is planning to obtain the status of an empowered rating agency from the State Commission for Securities and the Stock Market of Ukraine.
"The company has an expansion policy, and the Ukrainian market is rather promising one," NRA Director General Viktor Chetverikov said at the XIV international forum for capital markets held in the Crimean city of Alushta on September 23-25.
Chetverikov said that the NRA has experience in assigning ratings to a Ukrainian company: Providna insurance company, a subsidiary of Rosgosstrakh, obtained its rating.
He said that the NRA is one of four local rating agencies accredited by Russian Finance Ministry along with three international rating agencies operating on the Russian market.
Director of Ukrainian IRA, Leonid Karpenko, told Interfax-Ukraine that the agency is ready to provide services on assigning of ratings to investment and asset management companies, insurers and financial stability ratings to banks and it continues adapting other methods.
Commenting on the IRA’s plans to compete with four local agencies operating on the Ukrainian market, three of which are empowered rating agencies, and three international agencies, Karpenko said that apart from the Ukrainian rating, the agency will assign ratings according to the Russian scale.
He said that the rating would be four or five steps lower – in line with differences between sovereign ratings.
He said that the additional advantage of the IRA should ensure the absence of other interests in Ukraine, as well as the residence of analysts in Moscow.
"We would not dump," Karpenko said, naming the key rival Credit-Rating agency, which has been the only empowered rating agency for a long period of time, and now it is trying to restore its status.
Credit-Rating Director General Stanyslav Dubko told Interfax-Ukraine that the rating agency on September 5 submitted an application to obtain the status of an empowered agency to the State Commission for Securities and the Stock Market and resolved criticisms of the commission that had prevented the agency from gaining this status.
He said that requirements of the State Commission for Securities and the Stock Market foresee the holding of a tender for presenting the status after the appearance of two bids, so the arrival of the IRA would allow the tender to go ahead.
