MINSK, 12 July (BelTA) – The rating agency Fitch ignores requests for analyzing the situation with payments for eurobonds, the Belarusian Finance Ministry press service told BelTA.
On 7 July Citigroup Global Markets Europe AG and Citibank, N.A., London Branch informed they will no longer operate as the registrar, fiscal agent, paying agent, and transfer agent for Belarus' eurobonds. The Finance Ministry repeated that under the circumstances Belarus has to look for alternative ways of honoring the country's obligations to eurobond holders because the situation can be essentially classified as force majeure circumstances. According to the Finance Ministry, the rating agency Fitch chooses to ignore the circumstances and the actual inability of Western payment and clearing systems to honor their commitments and properly transfer money to holders of Belarusian eurobonds.
The rating agency Fitch has ignored the Finance Ministry's explanations and request for a thorough analysis of the situation with payments on eurobonds within the framework of a review of Belarus' credit rating. The Finance Ministry believes that the fact indicates the agency's approach to evaluating Belarus' credit worthiness is subjective.
