OREANDA-NEWS. September 24, 2009. International rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) upgraded the long-term credit rating of the first pan-Russian mobile operator "MegaFon" from"ВВ+" to "ВВВ-" due to continually high financial indicators. This makes MegaFon the first and the only investment grade telecom company in Russia.  The forecast for the rating change is “stable”.  The agency also upgraded the long-term rating of the company under the national scale from “ruАА+” to “ruААА”.

Kai-Uwe Mehlhorn, MegaFon CFO, stated “Despite difficult financial situation in the world, MegaFon has become the first and, so far, the only investment grade telecom company in Russia. We are very happy to get such independent assessment of our business, especially when we are about embarking on establishing a European Mid-Term Notes program in the amount up to USD 1.5 bln.”

Concurrently with upgrade of the long-term credit rating, S&P upgraded Eurobond rating of the company from “ВВ+” to “ВВВ-“ (Eurobond amount is 375 MUSD).

Alexander Gryaznov, Credit Analyst of Standard and Poor stated in the official S&P message “The financial profile of the company is positively influenced by the fact that at the moment its debt is fully covered with liquid resources, and high indicators of the generated free cash flow and liquidity.  The rating upgrade takes into account satisfactory business-profile of MegaFon reflecting its strong position in the Russian communication market, efficient operations and stability in the context of deteriorating macroeconomic situation in the Russian Federation”.