S&P Global Ratings, an international credit rating agency, has raised its rating on the Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) to "CCC+."
Ukrzaliznytsia announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
According to the statement, the recent completion of the restructuring of a debt of USD 894.9 million contributed to S&P Global Ratings’ decision to raise the company’s rating.
According to the rating agency, the restructuring of the debt removes immediate pressure from the company's liquidity position and its contractual debt repayments have declined by over 90% over the period of 2023-2024.
The rating agency also noted that Ukrzaliznytsia successfully repurposed its EUR-150-million committed credit facility from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and its EUR-100-million committed credit facility from the European Investment Bank for its liquidity needs.
"Furthermore, in accordance with Ukraine's law regarding Russian banks' debt write-off, which entered into force in August 2022, Ukrzaliznytsia's debts from Prominvestbank and Sberbank were written off as per the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine's decision and is considered settled," the rating agency said
The rating that the agency assigned to Ukrzaliznytsia is the same as Ukraine’s sovereign rating, which is the highest possible rating in the current wartime conditions.
Standard & Poor's raised its long-term issuer credit rating on Ukrzaliznytsia and its issue rating on its debt from "CCC" to "CCC+" in July 2021. The rating agency raised the rating after the company successfully boosted its liquidity position by issuing USD 300 million in notes due in 2026.
The rating agency lowered this rating from "CCC+" to "CCC" in June 2022.
