Fitch Ratings on Oct. 5 upgraded certain ratings of Commercial Bank Russian Universal Bank LLC and withdrew an Expobank LLC rating after affirming it.

Fitch upgraded Russian Universal Bank's long-term foreign and local issuer default ratings to B+ from B and raised its viability rating to "b+" from "b," with the upgrade reflecting the lender's extended record of strong financial metrics and limited appetite for risk. The rating agency also affirmed the lender's foreign-currency issuer default rating at B, its support rating at 5 and its support-rating floor at No Floor.

In addition, Fitch affirmed Expobank's senior unsecured debt at B+/recovery rating RR4 and subsequently withdrew the rating, saying that it is no longer relevant to the agency's coverage as only a small amount of the issue remains outstanding.

The outlooks on the banks are stable, while their ratings continue to reflect the lenders' fairly narrow franchises, which leads to significant balance-sheet concentrations and uncertainty regarding future growth strategies in a challenging operating environment.