KIEV, Aug. 11 – Fitch Ratings has upgraded the State Export-Import Bank of Ukraine (Ukreximbank) Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'CCC' from 'RD' (restricted default) and senior unsecured debt rating to 'CCC' from 'C'.

The upgrades follow the completion of the bank's external debt restructuring, the rating agency said in a posting on its website.

Fitch downgraded the bank's Viability Rating (VR) to 'f' from 'ccc' and immediately upgraded the VR back to 'ccc'. The downgrade to 'f' reflects the agency's view that the bank failed when defaulting on (restructuring) its external debt. This view is based on Fitch's understanding that the bank probably had insufficient foreign currency liquidity to continue to service its external debt - in particular to repay its $750 million eurobond due on April 27, 2015, - and so would likely have defaulted because of weaknesses in its standalone credit profile, even if a debt restructuring had not been imposed by the Ukrainian authorities.