The expert group discussed the concept of creating the Credit Rating Agency of the Union State

The goals and objectives of the creation of KRASG are the formation of objective, accessible and high-quality credit ratings on an international scale to expand mutual trade, increase investment volumes, develop economic integration and regulation in the financial markets of the Union State, as well as the EAEU, BRICS, SCO, attract debt financing in credit and non-credit organizations of friendly states, and the formation and evaluation of investment projects.

Minutes of the meeting of the expert group in the direction of "Economics" of the Scientific Expert Council under the Standing Committee of the Union State dated August 20, 2025. Topic of the meeting: "On the concept of creating a Credit Rating Agency of the Union State"

Speaker: Igor Viktorovich Zelezetsky, member of the working group on credit ratings of the BRICS Business Council, head of the Financial Consulting Center of Gazprombank.

The meeting participants made the following decisions:

1) To adopt the concept of the creation of the Credit Rating Agency of the Union State (KRASG) as a basis for the preparation of organizational and practical decisions. Among the proposed options for the creation of KRASG, the following were considered: (1) the establishment of KRASG as a new international organization, (2) consolidation within the framework of the International Intergovernmental Organization of the IRIPU, which has a 50-year history of activity, operates on the basis of the international legal regime of the Budapest and Vienna Conventions and is open to third-party organizations.

2) The goals and objectives of the creation of KRASG are the formation of objective, accessible and high-quality credit ratings on an international scale to expand mutual trade, increase investment volumes, develop economic integration and regulation in the financial markets of the Union State, the EAEU, BRICS, and the SCO, attract debt financing in credit and non-credit organizations of friendly states, and form and evaluate investment projects.

3) The target market niche for the activities of KRASG is to consider the provision of rating services to residents of the Union State and the member states of the EAEU, BRICS, and the SCO, including in cases where they do not have access to the services of national and/or international credit rating agencies. A similar initiative is being developed, in particular, by the African Union, which is creating the African Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA) with the participation of 57 states.

4) The main functionality of KRASG could be rating activities - preparation, assignment, confirmation, revision, withdrawal of credit ratings and credit rating forecasts. The key objects subject to assessment by the Agency should include financial and non-financial organizations, financial instruments, sovereign and sub-sovereign entities, financial instruments aimed at achieving sustainable development goals (SDG ratings), assessments of Islamic finance objects and other promising areas of assessment, including the assignment of credit ratings to small and medium-sized businesses on an international scale.

5) Of particular importance are sovereign (country) ratings, the formation of which is currently not only an analytical but also a manipulative process, including arbitrary assessments based on subjective geopolitical and ideological grounds, ignoring the real ability and willingness of businesses to timely service their obligations in a known volume and over a specific time horizon, in a specific currency of debt, taking into account actual creditworthiness risks. Specific factors contributing to discrimination against borrowers in the ratings used in global practice have been identified.

6) The Russian side has done significant work to analyze the rating methodologies in force in the world and created its own, including software solutions, interactive models, including comprehensive ratings of integral power and national strength of countries of the world, model country ratings and 24 industry models based on statistics from international regulators. The accumulated experience allows us to objectively reflect the strengths of the economies of the EAEU, BRICS, and SCO member states, including levels of provision with real assets, participation in integration associations, and a fair accounting of state influence on business development. The existing models allow us to predict defaults and serious financial crises of states with high accuracy.

7) Prepare a "roadmap" for the creation of KRASG by September 25, 2025.