OREANDA-NEWS. October 01, 2010. SOCAR representatives presented its annual report for Fitch Ratings at Head office of the Company. By opening the presentation ceremony, SOCAR first Vice-president Khoshbakht Yusifzade informed on Company’s operations. Afterwards, SOCAR Vice-president for economic issues Suleyman Gasimov spoke about SOCAR role in Azerbaijani economy.

According to him, the Company operates as a commercial entity despite the fact that it is wholly state-owned. It was mentioned that in October 2009, Fitch Ratings assigned a rating of SOCAR at the level of "BB+" (stable), and in May 2010 - "BBB-" (stable). Fitch Ratings analyst Angelina Valavina expressed appreciation to SOCAR management for holding the presentation. During the meeting, SOCAR specialists answered to all questions from Fitch Ratings on the company, financial and economic figures, investment plans, as well as projects carried out abroad.

According to international rules, first, investors or creditors survey the international rating of the organization they wish to cooperate with. At present, three U.S. leading international rating agencies include the Fitch Ratings, Moody's, and Standard & Poor's. The first two has upgraded ratings of SOCAR. The company is negotiating in that direction with Standard & Poor's agency.