Despite falling oil price, volatility in the ruble value and the ongoing tensions between the Europe and Russia, Dagong Global Credit Rating Co Ltd gave an AAA rating for Russia's gas giant OAO Gazprom, as China Daily reports.
The result is much higher than Russia's sovereignty rating, a rare practice among major international credit rating firms.
China's major rating agency Dagong announced the rating with a stable outlook for the company on Monday. The result followed the company's decision on Jan 8 to maintain Russia's sovereign rating at A with a stable outlook.
This represented a stark contrast with major international raters' view. On Jan 26 Standard & Poor's, for example, downgraded Russia's sovereign debt a notch to BB+, which meant the country was categorized as 'junk' status. Earlier, other two major raters, Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Rating, downgraded Russia's rating to just a notch above "junk" status.
All three agencies gave a "negative" outlook for Russia's debt.
In a press release Dagong explained that it gave an AAA rating to the world's biggest natural gas company mainly because two strategic agreements Gazprom signed with China in last Nov and May to provide natural gas through a western and eastern line.
Dagong will hold a news conference this morning to further explain its stance.
Gazprom said on Jan 29 that its third quarter net profit fell 61 percent to 105.7 billion roubles ($1.52 billion). The firm stopped supplying Ukraine with gas in June in a dispute over pricing and debt, which hurt its revenues.
Dagong's rating provides a rare backing to Gazprom as it seek to sell renminbi-denominated bonds recently in Hong Kong, after mounting financing difficulties in the western financial markets, analysts said.
