OREANDA-NEWS. Dagong Global Credit Rating for the first time assigned SOGAZ Insurance Group a long-term credit rating BBB+ in Russian and foreign currency with a "stable" outlook. SOGAZ became the first Russian insurer rated by the Chinese Agency.

"EU and USA sanctions against Russia led to lower profitability and higher risks for Russian insurance companies. However, SOGAZ Group is protected against such risks owing to reliable partnership with its clients", the Agency reported. Dagong analysts also noted that many companies playing an important role in the Russian economy were among SOGAZ clients. When assigning a rating to SOGAZ, the Agency also took into account " the optimization of the insurance regulatory system in Russia" and the high potential of the Company to cover expenses independently.

Dagong Global Credit Rating is one of the few non-western rating agencies solidly positioned on the international market. "We are satisfied with the high rating assigned to us by Dagong and pleased to be the first Russian insurance Company rated by the Chinese agency", said Sergey Ivanov, Chairman of the Board of SOGAZ.

He reminded that SOGAZ set up its Representative Office in Beijing at the end of 2015, which is now undergoing the licensing procedure.

"Assignment of this rating is an important step towards broader collaboration of SOGAZ with insurance companies in China, which will help achieve a new level of quality in our relationships. We expect that the rating from Dagong will make SOGAZ more transparent for Chinese partners in terms of financial indicators, portfolio quality, and underwriting policy, and will also demonstrate our commitment to develop business in this country. We also hope that the rating will enable SOGAZ to successfully participate in projects of Chinese and Russian investors, which, as we expect, will be implemented in connection with significantly increasing mutual interest of the business communities in our countries", noted Sergey Ivanov.