Standard & Poor's put Uralsvyazinform, one of Russian landline communications operators, with its BB- long-term credit rating, on the CreditWatch list and gave it the Negative Rating Outlook due to the company’s inability to attract 1.5 billion RUR ($61m) worth of loans, which they needed to do in order to refinance their liabilities. This information is available from Standard & Poor's official website.

'The fact that we placed Uralsvyazinform on the CreditWatch list means their rating can either be affirmed at the current level or demoted, depending on how successfully they actually refinance their liabilities in the next three months. If the operator fails to attract more investments prior to or right after their two billion RUR worth of bond issue payments in April 2008, the rating might be demoted by one or more positions,’ says Alexander Gryaznov of Standard & Poor's.

It appears that the company was unable to get the necessary 1.5 billion RUR because last year’s tenders enjoyed no demand at all. Banks were simply unprepared to offer Uralsvyazinform any loans on the terms the operator proposed. This is not likely to dramatically affect the business liquidity right away, but the company’s ability to effectively and quickly attract external investments can definitely be questioned, given especially the current troubles on both the domestic and global financial markets.

Uralsvyazinform owed its creditors 34 billion RUR on June 30, 2007, Standard & Poor's reports.