Standard & Poor’s confirmed the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s long-term credit rating at B-. At the same time, the international agency’s long-term rating outlook was demoted from Stable to Negative.

‘We had to reconsider the bank’s rating outlook because of the problematic environment the bank has to operate in. This trying environment is affecting the liquidity level and the asset quality of all Russian banks, and the UBRD is no exception,’ says Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Viktor Nikolskiy.

On the other hand, Standard & Poor’s analysts do admit that the bank’s retail operations turnover has been on the increase, that the bank’s managerial team is both stable and professional, and that the bank is only partially susceptible to market risks, the bank’s press officer says.

‘As a matter of fact, most of the country’s commercial banks’ ratings have been reconsidered recently. This has been brought about by their weakened liquidity status. For one, the rating outlooks of thirteen Russian banks were demoted on October 10, 2008 alone. Standard & Poor’s held several talks with the bank’s management and confirmed the organization’s stable position in the Urals and its impressive strategic prospects as a result,’ says the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Vice President and CFO Anton Soloviev.