From negative to stable:
Standard & Poor’s revises Georgian Oil and Gas outlook

International ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has revised its outlook for Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation (GOGC) from negative to stable because of its "improving performance” in the local and global market.

The Agency affirmed a "B+/B" credit rating for Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation.

Standard & Poor's said the improvement of the Georgian company's rating outlook reflected the anticipation that increased EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation), which gave the company an opportunity to develop projects without a further increase in loans.

Standard & Poor's experts believed favourable gas purchase prices and successful commissioning of the Gardabani Thermal Power Plant will increase Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation's EBITDA to over 200 million GEL (about $80 million/€75 million*) in 2016, compared with 125 million GEL(about $50 million/€47 million*) in 2015.

The agency positively evaluated the beginning of the development of two major projects – Gardabani 2 and Underground Gas Storage (USG) construction project by Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation.

The construction of Gardabani Thermal Power Plant 2 was planned to start in early 2017 and was expected to be commissioned in early 2019.

Meanwhile the construction works for the Underground Gas Storage facility will start in 2018 and be completed by 2020.

*Currencies are equivalent with the latest National Bank of Georgia exchange rate.