OREANDA-NEWS. December 30, 2009. International rating agency Moody's Investors Service has upgraded the corporate family rating (CFR) and probability of default rating (PDR) of OJSC MegaFon to Ba1 from Ba2 with stable outlook. The agency has also assigned a provisional Ba1 rating to the new USD 1.5 billion programme for the Issuance of Loan Participation Notes, approved on December 18, 2009.

Moody's notes that the upgrade to Ba1 reflects MegaFon's stable financial standing. Moody's pays its attention to strong operating performance of MegaFon, its solid financial strength metrics and good liquidity risk profile, despite the downturn in the Russian economy. The stable outlook on the ratings reflects Moody’s expectations that the mobile market in Russia will continue to grow in 2010, albeit at a slower rate than in the past. 

“MegaFon’s financial strength was recognized once again. Stable financial standing of the company, confirmed by international rating agencies is the basis for efficient and flexible policy of foreign borrowings”, says Petr Lidov, PR Director of MegaFon.

Moody’s previous rating action on MegaFon was on May6, 2009 when the rating agency changed the outlook to positive from stable for MegaFon’s Ba2 corporate family rating.