OREANDA-NEWS. Standard & Poor's international credit agency upgraded long-term corporate credit rating for NOVATEK from  BB- to BB, Veles Capital, an investment agency, reports. At the same time, company's rating was upped to ruAA from ruAA- by a national Russian scale of the company.

The rating upgrade shows at positive financial performance of the company and steady improvement of fundamentals of the Russian gas industry.

Considering dramatic development of NOVATEK, the experts expect the rating to be upgraded next year, if fundamentals of the Russian gas industry continue improving. In particular, the analysts surmise that the primary attention of the rating agency will be concentrated around how the government plans rising domestic prices of gas over 2007-2008 in the context of country's entrance into WTO. According to Veles' experts, the upgrade also depends on the ability of NOVATEK to save its low costs, while successfully implementing its investment program, on how the company can closely cooperate with Gazprom, and on how it continues the development of its own oil industry.