OREANDA-NEWS. December 23, 2011. Fitch Ratings has upgraded its long-term issuer default rating (IDR) for VTB Georgia from BB- to BB; outlook stable.

According to Fitch Ratings, the new rating for VTB Georgia follows the improvement of Georgia rating ceiling from BB- to BB. The agency reports that long-term and short term IDRs, and the bank support rating reflect the willingness of shareholders to provide their support, if necessary.
It is important to mention that in 2011, VTB Georgia recorded good indicators. According to preliminary performance report, the bank’s assets increased more than 20% over the year and now exceed GEL 410 million. Besides, the loan portfolio grew almost 30% to GEL 300 million. Retail loans shot up by 44.3%, and mortgage loans, by 33.9%.

Archil Kontselidze, General Director of VTB Georgia, said: “Next year, VTB Georgia will focus on improving service quality for the corporate sector, and developing the retail segment and lending to small and medium-sized business, with the share of the latter in the bank’s business to be increased to 60% over the next two years. To this aim, we will continue to expand our branch network, open new service centers to provide 24/7 services to our customers, and offer new sophisticated products and advanced technologies.”