OREANDA-NEWS. The international rating agency Moody's will not massively downgrade the ratings of Russian banks, said Olga Ulyanova, vice president and senior credit expert of the agency during the online conference "Banks in a New Reality: Challenges and a Look into the Future".

According to Ulyanova, the agency changed its forecasts from “stable” to “negative” for only a small number of banks out of about 50 rated by the agency. "These are banks whose business models do not allow generating enough resources, income reserves in order to absorb significantly increasing credit risks. For us, the main criterion is the ability, through a difficult cycle, to maintain our capital", explained Moody's vice president.

Moreover, even under the conditions of current economic shocks, the banking system as a whole will not be unprofitable, as banks will be able to "stretch" their reserves in order to absorb losses in two years, Ulyanova noted. And taking into account the Central Bank’s urgent recommendation to review the dividend policy, the capital of the banking system as a whole will be preserved, she stressed.