Fitch Rating Agency hopes to increase its customers number in Armenia

ArmInfo. International rating  agency Fitch hopes to increase the number of its customers in  Armenia. "We think, we hope, we hold meetings with financial  structures, corporate borrowers and other representatives of big  business at the level of owners and managers and we see great  interest and awareness of the necessity of passing rating  procedures," Fitch's regional head for Russia, CIS and the countries  of the Black Sea basin, the managing director of the Moscow office of  the agency Dmitry Surkov said on the fields of the conference in  Yerevan. According to him, many are aware of the necessity and  importance of ratings. This is also important for the regulator, as  the ratings give the market more transparency. "I think banks should  be interested in having their large borrowers have credit ratings as  a factor that they are able to disclose information," Surkov said,  adding that it will take time. He noted that the formation of the  rating portfolio in each country, as a rule, proceeds according to  the scheme:  obtaining a sovereign rating, then passing the rating  procedures from the side of commercial banks, followed by municipal  entities, and then - corporations. But, the expert believes,  corporates should have an incentive to the ratings, which are  necessary when issuing debt obligations. And here they are faced with  banks that are interested in lending and do not want to lose  borrowers. But on the other hand, companies should have an interest  in unsecured financing.

Surkov stressed that Armenia is moving toward this state of demand  for ratings, which Georgia has already come close to. "In Georgia, as  an alternative to bank lending, the line of those entering the market  of debt obligations in local currency and using the services of  rating agencies is expanding," the expert said, expressing hope that  Armenia will follow this path. To do this, it is necessary to work on  the development of local capital markets.

To note, Fitch agency placed three Armenian banks - Ameriabank,  Ardshinbank and ACBA - Credit Agricole Bank, which have the same IDR  rating "B +" with a stable outlook. Fitch Ratings has also recently  affirmed the long-term ratings on liabilities in foreign and national  currencies for Armenia at the "B +" level with a "Stable" outlook. In  December of last year, the agency first assigned a long-term foreign  and local currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Yerevan at "B +"  and a short-term foreign currency IDR of "B" with a forecast for the  long-term IDR "Stable".