OREANDA-NEWS. September 28, 2010. Fitch Ratings has assigned OJSC Freight One (Freight One) a Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) of 'BBB-', and a National Long-term rating of 'AA+(rus)'. The Outlook is Stable. Fitch has also assigned Freight One a Short-term foreign and local currency IDRs of ‘F3’.

The ratings are primarily driven by the existing legal, and strong operational and strategic relationship between Freight One and its 100% shareholder JSC Russian Railways (RZD; ‘BBB’/Stable). Although there are no direct guarantees by RZD, Freight One represents over 10% of RZD’s consolidated revenues and is therefore a Principal Subsidiary (as defined in RZD’s Loan Participation Notes). Freight One’s default (among other events) could be an Event of Default for RZD. This one factor, together with Fitch’s assessment of the operational and strategic links between Freight One and its parent enables the Long-term IDRs of Freight One to be notched down by one notch from the Long-term IDRs of RZD.