Polyus Zoloto : Standard & Poor’s Affirms Polyus Gold’s ‘BB+’ Rating

22.05.2015

For immediate release

Polyus Gold International Limited

Standard & Poor's Affirms Polyus Gold's 'BB+' Rating
Stand-alone Credit Profile Upgraded to 'bbb-'

Polyus Gold International Limited (LSE and MOEX - PGIL) ("PGIL", "Polyus Gold" or the "Group"), notes Standard & Poor's (S&P) announcement, which affirmed its 'BB+' Long-term Corporate Credit Rating on Polyus Gold.

S&P's announcement stated that the Group's reduction in expenses and revised capital expenditure (Capex) plans mean that it is likely to report 'very healthy credit metrics…ahead of its immediate peers'.

Underpinning S&P's analysis was the total cash cost in H2 2014 of US$524/oz which S&P expects to fall further in 2015 as a result the Group's successful cost reduction initiatives, the Rouble devaluation as well as other contributing factors.

S&P has revised the financial risk profile of Polyus Gold to 'modest' from 'intermediate' leading to an upgrade in the Group's standalone credit profile to 'bbb-'.

The Group's rating is now effectively capped by Russia's sovereign country ceiling of 'BB+'. Furthermore, due to the continued negative outlook on Russia, Polyus Gold's rating also retained a 'Negative Outlook'.

In April 2015, Fitch Ratings reaffirmed the Group's 'BBB-' Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) with Negative Outlook.

Link to full announcement

Enquiries:

Investor contact

Sergey Krivokhizhin, Director Investor Relations
[phone] [e-mail]

Media contact

Artem Gorbachev, Press Secretary
[phone] [e-mail]

This announcement may contain "forward-looking statements" concerning PGIL. Generally, the words "will", "may", "should", "could", "would", "can", "continue", "opportunity", "believes", "expects", "intends", "anticipates", "estimates" or similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements relating to future capital expenditures and business and management strategies and the expansion and growth of PGIL's operations. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to actors that are beyond PGIL's ability to control or estimate precisely and therefore undue reliance should not be placed on such statements which speak only as at the date of this announcement. PGIL assumes no obligation in respect of, and does not intend to update, these forward-looking statements, except as required pursuant to applicable law.