Russian investment rating up

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Standard & Poor, a major credit rating agency, has finally followed Fitch and Moody’s positive reclassification of Russia’s debt - and investment rating.Despite the poor publicity surrounding the effective state seizure of Yukos, overall tax and legal reforms, coupled with strong government finances, mean that S&R upgraded Russia as “speculative” to “investment grade”.Under President Putin, Russia has become creditor rather than a debtor, with gold and foreign currency reserves now exceeding public debt by a clear $b billion.