Moody's assigns definitive Baa3 rating to international bonds XS0556885753 (KMGZe5) of National Company KazMunayGaz (Kazakhstan)

/Moody's Investors Service, Moscow, March 14, 11, heading made by KASE/ - Moody's Investors Service has today assigned a definitive Baa3 rating to the USD1.250 billion worth of 6.375% notes due in 2021 issued by JSC National Company KazMunayGas ("KMG NC" or "the group"). The final terms of the notes are in line with the drafts reviewed by Moody's for the provisional (P)Baa3 instrument rating assignment. RATINGS RATIONALE Moody's definitive rating on this debt obligation is in line with the provisional rating assigned by the rating agency to KMG NC on 2 November 2010. KMG NC issued the notes under its USD7.5 billion global medium-term note programme. The instrument ranked pari passu with all senior unsecured and unsubordinated obligations of KMG NC. The group will utilise the proceeds of the notes in 2011 to refinance its existing indebtedness, as well as to fund its capital investment in the Kashagan oil project. Moody's last rating action on KMG NC was implemented on 2 November 2010, when the rating agency assigned a provisional (P)Baa3 rating to the company's notes issuance. The principal methodologies used in this rating were Global Integrated Oil & Gas Industry published in November 2009, and Government-Related Issuers: Methodology Update published in July 2010. Headquartered in Astana, Kazakhstan, KMG NC, rated Baa3 with stable outlook, is a wholly state-owned (through the SamrukKazyna holding company), vertically integrated oil and gas operator with core operations in exploration and production, refining, domestic oil and gas transportation, and the marketing and trading of oil and petroleum products. In 2009, the group generated around USD10.8 billion in revenues and EBIT of USD3.3 billion. REGULATORY DISCLOSURES Information sources used to prepare the credit rating are the following: parties involved in the ratings, parties not involved in the ratings, public information, and confidential and proprietary Moody's Investors Service information. Moody's Investors Service considers the quality of information available on the issuer or obligation satisfactory for the purposes of assigning a credit rating. Moody's adopts all necessary measures so that the information it uses in assigning a credit rating is of sufficient quality and from sources Moody's considers to be reliable including, when appropriate, independent third-party sources. However, Moody's is not an auditor and cannot in every instance independently verify or validate information received in the rating process. Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on Moodys.com for the last rating action and the rating history. The date on which some Credit Ratings were first released goes back to a time before Moody's Investors Service's Credit Ratings were fully digitized and accurate data may not be available. Consequently, Moody's Investors Service provides a date that it believes is the most reliable and accurate based on the information that is available to it. Please see the ratings disclosure page on our website www.moodys.com for further information. Please see the Credit Policy page on Moodys.com for the methodologies used in determining ratings, further information on the meaning of each rating category and the definition of default and recovery. Moscow Sergei Grishunin Asst Vice President - Analyst Corporate Finance Group Moody's Eastern Europe LLC Telephone: +7 495 228 6060 Facsimile: +7 495 228 6091 London David G. Staples MD - Corporate Finance Corporate Finance Group Moody's Investors Service Ltd. JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456 SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454 Moody's Eastern Europe LLC 7th floor, Four Winds Plaza 21 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya St. Moscow 125047 Russia Telephone: +7 495 228 6060 Facsimile: +7 495 228 6091 [2011-03-15]