OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has assigned LLC Deloports' (DeloPorts) RUB3bn unsecured bond due 2018 a final
'BB-' rating. The Outlook is Stable. The final rating follows the completion of the bond issuance on anticipated terms.

KEY RATING DRIVERS
The RUB3bn bond bears a coupon of 13.8% per year and has a maturity of 10 years with a mandatory call option for DeloPorts to buy back the bond at 100% in 2018.

Russia announced economic sanctions against Turkey on 1 December, banning the import of fruit, vegetables and poultry from January 2016. DeloPorts estimates 3.6% of its 9M15 volumes would be affected with respect to its roll-on, roll-off (Ro-Ro) operations where 30%-40% of imported goods represent fresh produce from Turkey. However, we estimate a smaller impact on profitability given the low margin contributions of these activities and the potential of other supplying countries to substitute the lost volumes from Turkey.

The sanctions do not affect maritime traffic from Turkish ports to Novorossiysk and the export of grain.

RATING SENSITIVITIES
Further new debt issued by DeloPorts that would result in a Weaker debt structure assessment could be negative for the rating. Similarly, consolidated debt/EBITDA close to or exceeding 2.5x would result in negative rating action.

Adverse policy decisions on grain exports or the economic environment in Russia deteriorating significantly beyond Fitch's current expectations could be negative for the rating. Finally, if the company does not monitor its foreign currency exposure conservatively, this may also result in negative rating action.

Rating upside potential is currently limited. We do not expect improvement in the Russian economy this year, as indicated by the Negative Outlook on Russia's sovereign rating.

SUMMARY OF CREDIT
LLC Deloports is a privately-held Russian holding company that owns and operates several stevedoring assets in the largest Russian port of Novorossiysk. Its two main subsidiaries are the container terminal NUTEP (where DeloPorts holds 100%) and the grain terminal KSK (where DeloPorts holds 75% - 1 share).