Artel becomes one of the first private Uzbek companies to receive credit rating

An Uzbek electronics manufacturer has become one of the country’s first companies to gain a sought-after credit rating.

Artel Electronics LLC (Artel), Central Asia’s largest home appliance and electronics producer and one of Uzbekistan’s largest companies, received a first-time Fitch rating of ‘B’ with a stable outlook.

It is the country’s first private manufacturer to receive a credit rating from one of the international “big three” rating agencies.

Following a thorough assessment of the company’s commercial and financial position, Fitch praised Artel’s “leading domestic market position”, its “expected strong funds from operation” and the company’s “successful and long-term cooperation” with internationally renowned original equipment manufacturers.

The rating will provide an independent benchmark of Artel’s reliability as a borrower.

Artel is a market leader in Uzbekistan and one of the country’s most recognizable brands. In recent years, the company has undergone extensive restructuring and a revision of its internal processes to align with international standards of financial reporting and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG).

The company has recently introduced a professional supervisory board, and Deloitte has completed an audit of its IFRS accounts for the last three years.

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Responding to the Fitch rating, Bektemir Murodov, CFO of Artel, told this website: “We are delighted to have received our first rating from Fitch.

“This moment follows months of hard work by the team at Artel as we work to align ourselves with the best global standards of corporate governance.”

He added that the rating would “help us deepen our cooperation with our partners, access new forms of financing, and is the natural next step towards entering international capital markets.”

An Artel spokesperson told EU Reporter that the company was “very pleased” with the rating, adding “this is only the beginning of our journey. We look forward to building on this in the coming months and years, and we are constantly looking at new ways to improve our business.”

The rating is the latest indication that much heralded business reforms in Uzbekistan are having the desired effect on the country’s investment environment. Reforms are enabling the country’s leading companies to restructure, access international financing opportunities and explore foreign markets and Artel is one of the first companies to capitalise on this.

Artel was founded in 2011 with limited product lines but has since grown to produce a wide range of household appliances and electronics, with over 10,000 employees operating throughout Uzbekistan. Currently, it exports to over 20 countries throughout the CIS and the Middle East, and is also the regional partner of Samsung and Viessmann. 

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