UGC shares rise almost 7% on Russian finance minister's statements that state's stake in company will be sold through open auction, govt will not delay sale

MOSCOW. Dec 30 (Interfax) - The shares of Uzhuralzoloto (UGC) rose almost 7% during trading on the Moscow Exchange on Tuesday (to 0.556 rubles per share) on statements from Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov that the state's stake in the company's securities will be sold through an open auction and that the government will not delay the sale.

The state's stake in Uzhuralzoloto will be sold through an open tender, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said. He did not specify a concrete time frame for the deal, but said that the Finance Ministry plans to sell the asset without delay.

"The same policy [as with the planned sale of Domodedovo Airport]. An open auction. We will put it up for tender, we will not delay it," he said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 television channel.

In July, a Chelyabinsk court satisfied the claim of the Prosecutor General's Office to recover the share of Konstantin Strukov in UGC and the UGC management company, as well as shares in a number of companies of several individuals connected to him, as state revenue due to the corrupt origin of the business. The Federal Property Agency (Rosimushchestvo) gained ownership of 67.25% of UGC and 100% of the management company.

Initially, the Finance Ministry expected to sell the controlling stake in Uzhuralzoloto by the end of 2025, but in October Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev gave a more cautious forecast, saying that the deal could take place in two stages with full completion in H1 2026. In a recent interview, Moiseyev said that the situation with valuing the asset turned out to be more complex than expected.

"We are all accustomed to seeing this public company that is essentially a gold business. Upon closer inspection, it turns out there is a large conglomerate of assets, including very serious assets related to coalmining, plus there is an agricultural business, and even some winemaking, including non-controlling interests. Overall, these assets are rather complex. One could say, 'Let's sell the gold business and then we will sort it out.' However, we do not agree to that. It is better to wait a little while, structure and evaluate everything together, and then sell all the assets together," Moiseyev said.