The agency also assigned the issue, due April 2009, a final Recovery Rating of 'RR4'.
"The notes are to be used solely for financing a deposit with Russia's Absolut Bank (Absolut), which is rated Issuer Default 'B', Short-term 'B', Individual 'D', Support '5' and National Long-term 'BBB(rus)'. The Outlooks on both the IDR and the National Long-term rating are Stable," Fitch said.
Absolut is a medium-sized private bank focusing on corporate and retail banking, financial markets, and asset management in the Moscow and Leningrad regions, with total assets of $505.5 mln.
Fitch said, "At end-2005 Absolut ranked 39th among domestic banks by assets. Lending to customers (including trade finance) in Moscow constitutes its core business, but the bank is also building up its SME and retail banking operations and expanding into new regions."
