The Bank of Russia has launched a unified database with ratings of domestic companies

The Bank of Russia has launched a unified database of domestic company ratings — a rating repository that incorporates the ratings of legal entities and bonds from four credit rating agencies (CRAs).

The list includes the Analytical Credit Rating Agency (ACRA), Expert RA, the National Rating Agency (NRA), and National Credit Ratings (NKR).

All information is now available in an aggregated form, Deputy General Director of Expert RA Nikolay Ivanov told Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Ultimately, this simplifies investment decision-making for people.

In a situation where Russian companies are forced to keep their financial information private due to sanctions, credit ratings are one of the few tools that investors can rely on when assessing their risks, Ivanov emphasized.

A credit rating is an assessment of a company's ability to meet its obligations. It is needed to decide where to invest money. The higher the rating, the more reliable the borrower is, and vice versa, explained HSE professor and Bitkogan project founder Evgeny Kogan to RG.

Credit ratings of companies and securities help determine what to buy in each portfolio.

"It is difficult for private investors with no analytical experience to carry out credit analysis on their own. Here we have obtained detailed and professional information in one place. The repository will be useful for both investors and analysts," Kogan concluded.

According to the latest data, in June the number of Russians who opened brokerage accounts on the Moscow Exchange reached 32.4 million. In the first half of the year, their number increased by more than 2 million people.