OREANDA-NEWS. On April 01, 2009 Fitch Ratings affirmed AK BARS Bank’s (AK BARS) Long-term Issuer Default rating at ‘BB’ with Stable Outlook and downgraded the Bank’s Individual Rating to ‘D/E’ from ‘D’, reported the press-centre of AK BARS Bank.

The affirmation of the Long-tern Issuer Default rating at “BB” with stable outlook is a rare event in the recent months while long-term ratings of majority of Russian banks are being downgraded, and this proves the Bank’s financial soundness in crisis environment.

Downgrade of the Bank’s Individual Rating is a result of deterioration in the operating environment in which Russian banks are operating now and increase of levels of loan impairment, typical for crisis conditions.

The rating actions made by Fitch Ratings are as follows:
Long-term IDR: affirmed at ‘BB’; Outlook Stable
Short-term IDR: affirmed at ‘B’
Individual Rating: downgraded to 'D/E' from 'D'
Support Rating: affirmed at ‘3’
National Long-term Rating: affirmed at ‘AA-(rus)’; Outlook Stable.