Moody’s rates all Ukrainian bank Eurobonds at Caa1

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded its Eurobond ratings of several Ukrainian private banks– PUMB (PUMBUZ) and Privatbank (PRBANK) – and state banks – Oschadbank (OSCHAD) and Ukreximbank (EXIMUK) – to Caa1 (a new sovereign ceiling) from B3, the agency reported on September 25. Moody’s kept the ratings of other Eurobond issuers – VAB Bank (VABANK) and Finance & Credit Bank (FICBUA) – at Caa1 level.

Alexander Paraschiy: The most surprising part of the downgrade is that the banks that have built their reputation as reliable assets now have the same rating as those whose bonds trade at 30%+ yields. Otherwise, the news was broadly anticipated and will hardly add any downside pressure to the affected bonds’ prices.