Moody's on Sept. 27 upgraded Vozrozhdenie Bank's long-term local- and foreign-currency deposit ratings to Ba1 from Ba2 and changed the outlook on the ratings and on the Russian lender's issuer outlook to positive from developing.
The rating agency also upgraded the bank's baseline credit assessment to "b2" from "b3", its adjusted baseline credit assessment to "b1" from "b2", its long-term counterparty risk assessment to Ba1(cr) from Ba2(cr) and its long-term counterparty risk ratings to Ba1 from Ba2.
The upgrade follows the approval of the bank's planned merger with parent VTB Bank PJSC in August, which eliminated uncertainties over Vozrozhdenie's shareholder structure and strategy. The outlook change, meanwhile, reflects Moody's expectations that Vozrozhdenie will merge with Bank VTB in the next 12 months, the agency said, noting that the merger is scheduled for May 2020.
Additionally, Moody's affirmed Vozrozhdenie's Not Prime short-term deposit and counterparty risk ratings and Not Prime(cr) short-term counterparty risk assessment.
