OREANDA-NEWS. July 07, 2014. Sistema JSFC ("Sistema", the "Group" or the "Company") (LSE: SSA), the largest publicly-traded diversified holding company in Russia and the CIS, announces that Moody's Investors Service has upgraded Sistema's credit rating to 'Ba2' from 'Ba3' with positive outlook.

Moody's also assigned MTS an investment-grade rating of 'Baa3' from 'Ba2' with a stable outlook and changed to positive from stable the outlook on the Ba2 credit rating of Bashneft.

Vsevolod Rozanov, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Sistema, commented: "This upgrade recognises Sistema's track record of maintaining strong consolidated financial metrics and sustainable margins, as well as the progress made in diversifying our cash generation base through dividend payments and selective divestments. We are also pleased to see our subsidiaries MTS and Bashneft continuing to improve their credit strength."