MOSCOW, July 8 (RAPSI) - The Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, on Wednesday approved a bill on rating agencies, RIA Novosti reported.

The top three global rating agencies – Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s – downgraded Russia’s rating to junk in January. Russian officials criticized the move as unjustified and politically motivated.

A bill was subsequently submitted to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, to introduce accreditation requirements for rating agencies in Russia.

According to the bill, Russian corporations and foreign companies that have affiliates in Russia would have to have at least two years of credit rating activity to be accredited. Foreign companies would have to file documents for accreditation every two years.

Russia’s Central Bank would be made responsible for the accreditation of rating agencies.

Non-accredited rating agencies would not be forbidden from operating in Russia, but only ratings by accredited agencies could be quoted for regulatory purposes.