The global credit rating agency Standard & Poor's in June also confirmed the "BB+" rating assigned to the largest Lithuanian energy company a year ago.
Lietuvos Energija now is waiting for affirmation or revision of its "Ba1" rating assigned by Moody's in the spring of 1998.
"If all previous ratings are confirmed, it will be a good sign, to a certain extent, showing that we have not suffered too much from the Russian crisis. At the same time it will confirm that the company is reliable," said Arturas Dainius, director of Lietuvos Energija economic and financial department.
Lietuvos Energija's board of directors has set the borrowing limit for this year at 644 million litas ($161 million), or 710 million litas if the company should decide to raise money for investment.
The company, though, is unlikely to borrow as much money as that unless there are very favorable borrowing terms, Dainius added.
The state, which owns 86.5 percent of Lietuvos Energija is moving ahead with its plans to restructure the utility by separating the distribution network from the national transmission system which will pave the way for partial privatization of the company.
The government plans to retain a minimum of 51 percent of Lietuvos Energija for the foreseeable future.
"As such, the government continues to exercise significant influence over key business areas, including tariff-setting and export policy, and its tangible support is a key element within the current rating," Fitch IBCA said in a statement.
The agency pointed out that the bulk of Lithuanian energy exports go to Belarus which "includes a substantial portion of barter sales upon which receipts are generally both late and discounted below the invoiced amount."
"Given the continuing weakness in the Belarus economy, and the political imperative of continuing exports, the working capital [of Lietuvos Energija] will most likely remain volatile," it said.
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