Special comment "Indicators Potentially Impeding the Attainment of an Investment-Grade Credit Rating," along with special rating assessment methods by rating objects, Methodology for determining a credit rating (certificate of copyright registration dated February 1, 2007, No. 19443), which highlights the unified rating procedure, and Code of Business Ethics (certificate of copyright registration dated November 8, 2010, No. 35612), which describes the Agency's standards of operation, is a public part of the Agency's overall rating methodology and reflects the Agency's policy regarding the assessment of the creditworthiness of a rated object.
| Publication Date | Document Type | Title | Download |
| December 11, 2017 | Special Comment | Indicators Potentially Impeding the Attainment of an Investment-Grade Credit Rating (edition of December 7, 2017) | in Ukrainian (14 pages, pdf) |
| February 19, 2016 | Special Comment | Indicators Potentially Impeding the Attainment of an Investment-Grade Credit Rating (edition of February 19, 2016) | in Ukrainian (13 pages, pdf) |
| September 23, 2015 | Special Comment | Indicators Potentially Impeding the Attainment of an Investment-Grade Credit Rating | in Ukrainian (14 pages, pdf) |
| April 30, 2013 | Special Comment | Indicators Potentially Impeding the Attainment of an Investment-Grade Credit Rating | in Ukrainian (6 pages, pdf) |
The practice of the rating Agency shows that the customer of rating services is primarily interested in obtaining an investment-grade credit rating. According to the National Rating Scale, credit ratings maintained at the investment category levels indicate that the borrower or debt instrument is characterized by the highest, very high, high, or sufficient creditworthiness compared to other Ukrainian borrowers or debt instruments. This means that the activities of the borrower/issuer with a high degree of probability allow for the timely and full fulfillment of its debt obligations.
In the Code of Conduct for Credit Rating Agencies, it is stated that a credit rating agency should not provide the customer or user of rating services with any guarantees regarding the results of the analysis and the level of rating assessment. At the same time, this does not exclude the possibility of the agency developing a system of preliminary indicators if they do not include recommendations and proposals regarding the activities of the borrower and/or issuer that may affect the level of the rating assessment (recommendations and proposals regarding the organizational and legal form, assets and liabilities, business operations, investment strategy, sources of funding, etc.).
Adhering to international standards considering possible changes in the regulatory framework, the Agency has systematized the indicators (preliminary indicators) that may prevent the borrower/debt instrument from obtaining an investment-grade credit rating. The provisions of the document do not contain any advice, proposals, or recommendations regarding the financial and economic activities of issuers/borrowers that may affect the level of the rating assessment but only reflect the norms of current legislation and the Agency's policy regarding the assessment of the creditworthiness of issuers/borrowers within the framework of further increasing the transparency of the rating procedure.
The document contains a list of signs of the financial and economic activities of the rated object that may lead to a refusal to assign an investment-grade credit rating and also defines the procedure for analyzing the issuer and its securities for compliance with signs of fictitiousness.
The Agency reserves the right to change certain provisions of this part of the rating methodology in order to avoid contradictions regarding the principles of creditworthiness assessment in cases of changes in the current legislation in the rating area and significant changes in the macroeconomic situation in Ukraine.