On September 21, 2017, Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings revised TGC-1 outlook to ‘Positive’ from ‘Stable’ thanks to the improvement of the Company's performance indicators. Meanwhile, the Company's long-term and short-term corporate credit ratings were confirmed at ‘ÂÂ+/Â’ levels respectively. 

The positive factor that affected the outlook revision was the completion by TGC-1 of its latest investment projects within the CDA programme in 2016. Guaranteed level of payments for power delivery for these projects will ensure a high level of cash flow from operations, which will enable the Company to gradually pay off existing liabilities while keeping midterm capital expenditures at a moderate level. Meanwhile, commissioning of new power plants reduced an average age of production capacities, which enabled to enhance the Company's competitive position and improve its operation efficiency.

S&P Global Ratings experts mentioned TGC-1's strong competitive position in the service region – St. Petersburg, the Republic of Karelia, the Leningrad and Murmansk Regions, its balanced generating asset structure including HPPs and gas-fired power plants. The significant proportion of hydroelectric generating assets with low costs contributes to the Company's higher profitability compared to the peer companies.

‘Positive’ outlook of TGC-1 reflects the outlook for a parent company – Gazprom. Taking into account the improvement of TGC-1's solvency assessment (SACP – stand-alone credit profile), S&P Global Ratings might upgrade TGC-1 outlook by one point in case of the equivalent rating action in relation to Gazprom and sovereign ratings of the Russian Federation.

About

TGC-1 is the leading producer of electricity and heat in the North-West region of Russia. It operates 53 electric generating stations in four regions of Russia: St. Petersburg, Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast, and Murmansk Oblast.

TGC-1 installed electric capacity of the Company’s stations amounts to 6.95 GW and heating capacity of 14,53 thous. GCal/hr. Major shareholders are Gazprom Energoholding LLC (51.79 %) and Fortum Power and Heat Oy (29.45 %). Total headcount of the Company, including subsidiaries, totals circa 7 thousand.