OREANDA-NEWS. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today it affirmed its 'BB+/B' long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings and 'ruAA+'

Russia national scale rating on Russia-based Gazprombank, following the upgrade of its 100% owner, OAO Gazprom, to 'BBB' from 'BBB-'.

At the same time, the ratings on Gazprombank were removed from CreditWatch, where they had been placed with positive implications on Nov. 15, 2006, following a review of government influence on Russian government-related entities (GREs), including Gazprom. The outlook is stable.