KIEV, March 27 - Moody's Investors Service has downgraded to Caa3 from Caa2 the corporate family ratings and to Caa3-PD from Caa2-PD the probability of default ratings of three companies operating in Ukraine (Ferrexpo Plc, Metinvest B.V. and MHP S.A.).

The rating action follows Moody's decision on March 24 to (1) downgrade the Government of Ukraine's sovereign (government bond) rating to Ca from Caa3 with a negative outlook, and (2) lower the country's foreign-currency bond country ceiling to Caa3 from Caa2.

According to Moody's, the recent action primarily reflects the constraints of Ukraine's lower foreign currency ceiling on the ratings of the affected companies. The three issuers are directly exposed to Ukraine's political, legal, fiscal and regulatory environment, given that most or all of their assets are located within the country and because their debt is mostly in foreign currency.