Standard & Poor’s leaves Russian utilities unchanged after Moscow blackout
This week’s blackout in Moscow has not impacted the ratings of the electricity companies involved, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said on Friday.
The agency said that it is unlikely that Moscow utility Mosenergo (B-/Positive/--) or the Federal Grid Company (B+/Stable/--) would be held responsible for the power cut because it resulted from a breakdown in a substation owned by another company within the RAO UES group.
However there is a risk of litigation claims on Mosenergo, and indirectly on RAO UES, S&P said. Mosenergo could be exposed because the transfer of existing supply contracts from the company to the newly established supply company has not yet been completed. Litigation could impair the company’s already weak liquidity, but “this risk is not critical because current legislation limits compensation to property damages”, S&P said.
RAO UES, the world’s largest power monopoly, is currently undertaking a huge restructuring process to reform Russia’s electricity market. Earlier this week the Russian premier Vladimir Putin blamed UES squarely for the blackout, saying: “UES management should not only concentrate on the broader problems of power sector reform, but also must pay attention to its daily operations”. GR
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