АГЕНТСТВО FITCH ПОВЫСИЛО РЕЙТИНГИ АЛМАТЫ ДО "ВВ-" С "В+", ПРОГНОЗ СТАБИЛЬНЫЙ

/REUTERS, Лондон, 15.08.02/ - Международное рейтинговое агентство Fitch повысило долгосрочные рейтинги Алма-Аты в иностранной и местной валюте до "ВВ-" с "В+", оставив прогноз их изменения стабильным. В то же время, агентство присвоило городу краткосрочный рейтинг в иностранной валюте на уровне "В". Повышение рейтингов отражает растущую экономику Алма-Аты, сильный бюджет города, низкий уровень задолженности и поддержку, которую оказало городу правительство Казахстана, его основной кредитор, во время выплат по долгам в 2002 году. В то же время, решение Fitch учитывает неопределенность, связанную с изменениями в структуре разделения доходов между городом и правительством и системе трансфертов в республиканский бюджет, а также необходимость увеличения объема инвестиций в городскую инфраструктуру. Ниже следует текст сообщения Fitch на английском языке: (The following statement was released by the ratings agency). LONDON, August 15 - Fitch Ratings, the international rating agency, has today upgraded the City of Almaty's (Almaty) Long-term foreign currency and local currency ratings to 'BB-' (BB minus) from 'B+'; the rating Outlook remains Stable. At the same time, a Short-term foreign currency rating is assigned to the City at 'B'. The rating upgrade reflects Almaty's growing economy, strong budget balances, low debt burden and support provided by central government, its main creditor and guarantor, in repayment of the City's debts in 2002. However, they also take into account the uncertainty arising from changes in revenue-sharing arrangements with the central government as well as the system of official transfers to the republican budget and demand for more investment in the City's infrastructure. Almaty is the former capital of Kazakhstan and its financial, commercial and cultural centre, accounting for approximately 7% of the country's population and 16% of national GDP. The performance of the local economy determines the well-being of Almaty, as the City's budget is largely made up of tax revenue. The steady growth of the local economy since the mid-1990s has helped offset the impact of the move of the capital city to Astana in 1997. To date the City has been entirely self-financed, using cash balances carried over from previous years to cover its negative balance before debt operations. Almaty's direct debt burden has remained moderate as measured by usual and adjusted direct debt/current revenue ratios (excluding transfers to the centre from the current revenue). At end-2001 the former stood at 13% of the current revenue, largely unchanged on end-2000 levels (14%). The latter was also low, at 25% at the end of 2001 against 32% at the end of 2000. Refinancing risk associated with a spike in debt repayments in 2002 has been reduced through debt rescheduling and by financial support from the central government. The City has no flexibility with regard to tax rates but can broaden its tax base. On the expenditure side, flexibility exists due to a portion of capital expenditure, albeit moderate in the range of 10%, but operating expenditure is quite rigid because of transfers to the Republic's budget, payments which are senior to all other expenses, including debt servicing. Like other subnationals, in 2002 the City was adversely affected by the redistribution of business income tax, which accounted for 22% of its tax revenue in 2001, in favour of the Republic's budget. As a result, budget revenue in 2002 was set at a lower level than in the previous year. However this negative effect has been mitigated by measures provided by central government to help the City repay its debts to the Republic. Fitch understands that further changes in intergovernmental relations are expected and notes that uncertainty about their impact on the City poses a concern. The City of Almaty is situated in the southeast of Kazakhstan and has a population of 1.1 million. ((London Capital Markets +44 20 7542 7970, fax +44 20 7542 5285, jon.laycock@reuters.com)) [2002-08-15]