Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said on Tuesday that decisions taken by credit rating agencies were politically motivated, after U.S. agency S&P downgraded Russia's sovereign credit rating to below investment grade.
"They [ratings decisions] are politically motivated, and consequently it's unlikely that wise companies can and should take them into account," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
However, First Deputy Central Bank Governor Ksenia Yudayeva said the S&P decision was largely expected, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
"We believe that, to a large extent, this was expected," Yudayeva said. "In general, it was already taken into account in many decisions."
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