Moody's upgrades ratings of Kyiv, Kharkiv

Moody's Public Sector Europe has today upgraded the City of Kyiv's long-term issuer rating to Caa3 from Ca and the City of Kharkiv's issuer rating to Caa2 from Caa3.

At the same time, it has changed the ratings’ outlook to positive from stable, the statement on Moody’s official site reads.

As noted, Kyiv has improved its operating surpluses to 37% of operating revenue in 2016 from 28% in 2015 and 15% in 2014, which was driven by rapid tax revenue growth and supported by additional taxes allocated to local governments after the changes in the institutional framework, and high inflation.

Meanwhile, Kharkiv's operating surpluses averaged at 23% of operating revenue over the last two years compared with 9% in 2014. This improvement was driven by rapid tax revenue growth and supported by additional taxes allocated to local governments after the changes in the institutional framework, and high inflation.

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