Standard & Poor's: Tomsk Oblast 'BB-' And 'ruAA-' Ratings Affirmed; Outlook Negative

On April 1, 2016, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'BB-' long-term issuer credit rating and 'ruAA-' Russia national scale rating on Russia's Tomsk Oblast. The outlook is negative. S&P's believes that the Russian region of Tomsk Oblast might face increasing pressure on the revenue side over the medium term, given weaker performance of the mining industry and a lower amount of federal grants. However, S&P's assumes that the oblast's management will remain committed to its cautious financial and debt management practices and continue to implement austerity measures aimed at budgetary consolidation. S&P's is therefore affirming our 'BB-' and 'ruAA-' ratings on Tomsk Oblast. The negative outlook reflects the view that, over the next 12 months, wider deficits after capital accounts than we currently anticipate in the base-case scenario could result in Tomsk Oblast's tax-supported debt increasing to 60% of consolidated operating revenues and interest to 5% of adjusted operating revenues by 2018, while lower average free cash levels lead to the debt service coverage ratio falling below 120%.

• Full name
  Finance Department of the Tomsk Region
• Registration country
  Russia