OREANDA-NEWS. Moody's Investors Service has assigned the following global scale ratings with stable outlook to Sviaz-Bank: B2 long-term and Not-Prime (NP) short-term foreign and local currency deposit ratings and an E+ financial strength rating (FSR).

At the same time, Moody's Interfax Rating Agency has assigned a Baa1.ru long-term national scale credit rating (NSR) to the bank.

Sviaz-Bank's ratings are underpinned primarily by its relationship with such key players in the Russian post and telecommunications sector as Post of Russia (a state-owned post service operator covering 99% of the territory of Russia) and Svyazinvest, a state-owned holding company which has controlling stakes in a number of national and regional telecommunications operators, including Rostelecom, a leading long-distance calls provider in the country.

Other positive rating drivers are: (i) relatively wide territorial coverage with the network comprising 34 regional branches, (ii) entrenched positions in the booming market segment of arrangement of local currency-denominated corporate bond issues in Russia, particularly for companies from the telecommunications sector.