ACRA DOWNGRADES RUSSIAN POST TO AA-(RU), CHANGES OUTLOOK TO STABLE AND DOWNGRADES ITS BOND ISSUES TO AA-(RU)

The credit rating of Russian Post (hereinafter, Russian Post or the Company) has been downgraded due to the revision of the size of the expected positive effect from Federal Law No. 271‑FZ dated July 26, 2026 “On Amendments to the Federal Law ‘On Postal Services’ and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation”.

The credit rating of Russian Post continues to be determined by the high degree of government support and the strong operational profile, which, in turn, is based on high scores for the market position, medium scores for business and corporate governance, as well as the very high score for geography. The financial profile includes high scores for size and liquidity, and medium profitability. The rating is under pressure from the assessments of leverage, coverage, and cash flow.

The increase of prices for Russian Post’s services in March 2026, as well as the Company’s actions to optimize costs have enabled it to, as per preliminary data, achieve a positive EBITDA under IFRS for H1 2026, which when combined with the passing of the law to support Russian Post, allows the Agency to change the credit rating outlook from Negative to Stable.

Russian Post is Russia’s largest federal postal and logistics operator, operating in all regions of the country. The Company’s product range includes all types of postal services (delivery of written correspondence and postal items, international postal service, etc.), money transfers, delivery of pension payments, utility payments, and logistics services for online retailers. The Company is wholly owned by the state.

KEY ASSESSMENT FACTORS

High degree of support from the state. The sole shareholder of the Company is the Russian Federation. ACRA takes into account selective support measures previously provided by the state, which determines the medium assessment of the Propensity to Support sub-factor. In the Agency’s opinion, there are no barriers to or restrictions on providing support.

ACRA also notes the considerable social role of the Company (Russian Post is a large employer with a staff of 211,600 employees as of December 31, 2025) and the importance of Russian Post’s infrastructure for the state, which leads to a moderately high assessment of the Exclusivity of Functions sub-factor.

At the same time, the Agency notes the lack of explicit guarantees of government support. The dependence of the state and the Company on homogeneous risk factors is assessed by ACRA as low.

The decline in Russian Post’s standalone creditworthiness assessment (SCA), coupled with the Agency’s expectations that the state will provide direct, targeted support measures to the Company that will allow it to avoid increasing its debt, led to an increase in the number of notches of state support.

ACRA notes that some measures adopted as part of the new law have not been assessed in terms of their impact on Russian Post’s financial standing and consequently were not included in the Agency’s model.

Strong operational profile. The Agency continues to highly assess the Company’s market position in the written correspondence market and the market for delivering pensions and benefit payments. The diversification of the revenues of Russian Post is assessed as high: the key segment — provision of postal services — accounted for 52% of revenues in 2025. The quality of Russian Post’s infrastructure is assessed as sufficient for uninterrupted provision of basic services. The Company’s investment program is aimed primarily at supporting existing infrastructure, as well as increasing the level of digitalization of provided services. Corporate governance continues to be assessed as medium: the assessment is supported by the very high financial transparency.

Medium profitability and large size of business. By the end of 2025, the Company’s FFO before net interest payments and taxes amounted to RUB 5 bln. ACRA expects this indicator to improve considerably in 2026 due to the indexation of tariffs and completion of the Company’s measures to optimize costs. According to the Agency’s estimates, the weighted average value of this metric from 2023 to 2028 may reach RUB 10.7 bln or 0.5 bps of Russia’s GDP.

Given that the Company performs socially important functions that do not involve making a profit, the Agency estimates the FFO margin before net interest payments and taxes with a deviation from the methodology. According to ACRA’s calculations, the weighted average indicator may be 4.7% from 2023 to 2028, which corresponds to a medium score.

Very high leverage and very low debt coverage. The debt portfolio of Russian Post consists primarily of bonds, as well as bank loans. The Company’s leverage remains very high. The Agency expects it to gradually decline over the forecast horizon, but assumes that the ratio of total debt to FFO before net interest payments will not fall below the boundaries of the current score (6.0x). ACRA projects that the weighted average ratio of total debt to FFO before net interest payments will be 12.9x from 2023 to 2028.

As Russian Post goes through offers for long-term bonds placed during a period of low rates, the interest burden increases slightly. The Agency expects the weighted average FFO before net interest payments to interest payments ratio to be 0.6x from 2023 to 2028. At the same time, ACRA takes into account the significant interest income of Russian Post, taking into account which the coverage ratio of net interest payments may be slightly higher and exceed 1.0x in the forecast period.

Strong liquidity and weak cash flow. The Agency continues to assess the Company’s liquidity as high: the Company’s debt repayment schedule is comfortable and regulated by offers, and there are significant undrawn limits for credit lines. The free cash flow (FCF) margin remains negative, and ACRA does not expect it to turn positive in the forecast period.

The ratio of capital expenditures to revenues remains at a very low level. In 2026, the Agency, as before, expects some expansion of the investment program, aimed primarily at maintaining existing infrastructure. According to the Agency’s calculations, the weighted average ratio of expenditures to revenues will be 3.9% from 2023 to 2028.

key assumptions

• The Company continuing to be the state’s only postal operator, including in terms of sending government notifications, fines, and announcements;

• Maintaining and supporting existing infrastructure.

POTENTIAL OUTLOOK OR RATING CHANGE FACTORS

The Stable outlook assumes that the rating will highly likely stay unchanged within the 12 to 18-month horizon.

A positive rating action may be prompted by:

• Weighted average ratio of FFO before net interest payments to interest payments exceeding 1.0x coupled with the weighted average ratio of total debt to FFO before net interest payments falling below 6.0x;

• Substantial broadening of support measures from the state.

A negative rating action may be prompted by:

• Loss of complete control by the state;

• Decline in the Company’s systemic importance to the state;

• Reduction or stoppage of state support measures;

• Deterioration of the Company’s liquidity position.

rating components

SCA: bbb-.

Support: The credit rating has been assigned six notches higher than the SCA of the rated entity taking into account support from the supporting entity.

issue ratings

Russian Post, series 003Р-07 (RU000A10FDV7); maturity date: May 23, 2036, issue volume: RUB 7 bln — АА-(RU).

Russian Post, series 003Р-05 (RU000A10EWL1); maturity date: March 28, 2036, issue volume: RUB 15 bln — АА-(RU).

Russian Post, series 003Р-03, (RU000A10EA16); maturity date: January 22, 2036, issue volume: RUB 8.7 bln — АА-(RU).

Russian Post, series 003Р-04 (RU000A10EA32); maturity date: January 22, 2036, issue volume: RUB 2.3 bln — АА-(RU).

Russian Post, series 003Р-02, (RU000A10D3K3); maturity date: April 1, 2028, issue volume: RUB 3.9 bln — АА-(RU).

Russian Post, series 003Р-01 (RU000A10D3J5); maturity date: April 1, 2028, issue volume: RUB 4.8 bln — АА-(RU).

Russian Post, series BO-001P-04 (RU000A0ZZ5H3); maturity date: April 24, 2028, issue volume: RUB 5 bln — АА-(RU).

Russian Post, series BO-001P-05 (RU000A0ZZ5J9); maturity date: April 24, 2028, issue volume: RUB 5 bln — АА-(RU).

Russian Post, series BО-001P-06 (RU000A100SZ3); maturity date: August 23, 2029, issue volume: RUB 5 bln — АA-(RU).

Russian Post, series BО-001P-07 (RU000A1008Y3); maturity date: March 27, 2029, issue volume: RUB 5 bln — АA-(RU).

Russian Post, series BО-001P-08 (RU000A100UT2); maturity date: September 11, 2029, issue volume: RUB 5 bln — АA-(RU).

Russian Post, series BО-001P-09 (RU000A102E52); maturity date: November 13, 2030, issue volume: RUB 5 bln — АA-(RU).

Russian Post, series BО-001P-10 (RU000A101ZH4); maturity date: July 23, 2030, issue volume: RUB 10 bln — АA-(RU).

Russian Post, series BO-002P-01 (RU000A104V75); maturity date: May 26, 2032, issue volume: RUB 10 bln — АA-(RU).

Russian Post, series BO-002P-02 (RU000A104W17); maturity date: June 8, 2032, issue volume: RUB 10 bln — АA-(RU).

Russian Post, series BO-002P-03 (RU000A104W33); maturity date: June 8, 2032, issue volume: RUB 10 bln — АA-(RU).

Russian Post, series BO-002P-04 (RU000A1055Y4); maturity date: August 25, 2032, issue volume: RUB 20 bln — АA-(RU).

Rationale. The issues represent senior unsecured debt of Russian Post. Due to the absence of either structural or contractual subordination of the issues, ACRA regards them as equal to other existing and future unsecured and unsubordinated debt obligations of the Company. As per ACRA’s methodology, the detailed approach was applied to determine the credit ratings, according to which the recovery rate for the issues corresponds to category II, and therefore the credit ratings of the issues are equal to the credit rating of Russian Post — A-(RU) — and are set at AA-(RU).

REGULATORY DISCLOSURE