Fitch Ratings affirmed SKB-Bank’s long-term Issuer Default Rating at B- and its outlook as Stable last week. The bank’s short-term Issuer Default Rating was affirmed at B, its individual rating at D/E.

These ratings are based upon SKB-Bank’s nice profit figures, good asset quality, extended regional customer network, and improved corporate management. At the same time, the ratings reflect the bank’s relatively small operational scale, little geographical spread, and fast-growing loan portfolio.

SKB-Bank is based in Yekaterinburg and has been building up on the number of customers in the Urals very rapidly over the last few years. The bank was the Urals’ 6th largest bank and Russia’s 80th largest bank in the first half of 2007. SKB-Bank is mainly focused on regional expansion and offering loans to small and medium-scale businesses as well as private individuals.