Standard & Poor’s raised SOGAZ’s long-term ratings – counterparty credit rating and financial stability rating – from BB to BB+. The Russian rating also improved from ruAA to ruAA+. Rating forecast is Stable.

“The higher ratings of SOGAZ have been the result of the company’s strengthened competitive position, high and stable performance indicators, better quality and diversification of the investment portfolio, and higher capitalization, despite the persisting adverse economic and operational business environment in Russia”, said Victor Nikolsky, credit analyst at Standard & Poor’s.

The Stable forecast means that the company is expected to maintain the high performance indicators and the quality of its investment portfolio, as well as to keep the current level of capitalization, which is sufficient at the present moment. According to the agency, the diversification of SOGAZ’s insurance portfolio is going to improve. S&P considers the possibility of positive rating actions in case of lower industry and country risks.

“The higher ratings assigned to SOGAZ by a leading international rating agency are an evidence that we have chosen the right development strategy in the adverse economic conditions”, said Vadim Yanov, Chairman of the Management Board, SOGAZ. “Over the past year the company not only increased the amount of fees collected, but also received a significant income on investments. It is also noteworthy that the SOGAZ Group is a leader in the Russian insurance market according to the results of Q1 2010”.

The SOGAZ Insurance Group includes insurance companies OJSC SOGAZ, LLC IC SOGAZ-Agro (formerly LLC IC Neftepolis), OJSC Insurance Company SOGAZ-Med (OJSC Gazprommedstrakh), LLC IC SOGAZ-Life, OJSC IC SOGAZ-SHEKSNA, OJSC MIC Sheksna-M, asset management company OJSC Leader, and health service company LLC Gazprommedservice. Currently the Group’s regional network includes over 600 subdivisions and sales outlets across Russia and a representative office in Kazakhstan. SOGAZ has been assigned reliability rating A++ by Expert RA, as well as international financial stability ratings BB+ (Standard & Poor’s, forecast Stable) and BB (Fitch Ratings, forecast Positive).