OREANDA-NEWS. April 18, 2011. Evraz Group (EVR: LSE) (“EVRAZ”) welcomes the upgrade by Fitch Ratings of EVRAZ’s Long-term foreign currency Issuer default Rating (IDR) from ‘B+’ (Stable) to ‘BB-’ (Stable). Fitch has also upgraded Evraz’s senior unsecured rating of ‘BB- from ‘B+’ and assigned its prospective Eurobond issue an expected ‘BB-(exp)’ rating.

Fitch commented: “The upgrade reflects improvements in Evraz’s capital structure and liquidity position. Fitch views positively Evraz’s successful refinancing of short-term loans in 2010.

In Fitch’s view, EVRAZ, as the largest producer of long products in Russia, will benefit from an expected intensification of infrastructure and housing construction in this country.