Moody's lowers ratings of 11 Russian regions

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the ratings of eleven Russian regions, four cities, and three state-owned companies, the ratings agency said Wednesday.
Moody's rating agency earlier downgraded seven Russian financial institutions - Sberbank, Bank VTB, Gazprombank, Russian Agricultural Bank, Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending, Vnesheconombank and Alfa-Bank, a TASS report said today.
The rating actions "follow the weakening of Russia's credit profile, as reflected by Moody's downgrade of Russia's government debt rating to Ba1 from Baa3 on February 20, 2015," the report said.
Moody's downgraded Russia's sovereign debt rating to speculative grade of Ba1 from Baa3 with a negative outlook, in the night of February 21.
The report cited the crisis in Ukraine and the drop in oil prices as key reasons for the downgrade.