Evraz suspends Raspadskaya demerger, awaiting clarification from UK and Russian regulators

MOSCOW. March 11 (Interfax) - Evraz plc has indefinitely suspended demerging its coal assets consolidated at PJSC Raspadskaya , pending clarification from the UK's sanctions enforcement regulator as well as Russian authorities, the Russian metals company said in a statement.

The clarifications from the UK's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) will deal with possible regulatory restrictions. Russian regulators will provide clarifications concerning the rights of shareholders to control the shares that they could receive in the demerger, the statement said.

Evraz said later that it had sent an official letter to the OFSI to clarify that Roman Abramovich is not a person exercising the effective control of the company.

Evraz said two days ago that the company's board of directors continues to support the process of demerging coal assets, which is being carried out in accordance with the schedule announced earlier and which corresponds with the long-term interests of Evraz shareholders, employees of the company, and clients.

After Roman Abramovich, who has a 28.64% stake in Evraz, was added to the UK's sanctions list on Thursday, the company's listing on the London Stock Exchange was temporarily suspended. This was done "in order to protect investors pending clarification of the impact of the UK sanctions," the UK's Financial Conduct Authority said.

Evraz is a major vertically integrated steel and mining company and one of the largest producers of vanadium in the world. The company's largest shareholders are Abramovich, Alexander Abramov through Abiglaze Ltd., Alexander Frolov through Crosland Global Ltd., Gennady Kozovoi, and Maxim Vorobyov, who control respectively 28.64%, 19.32%, 9.65%, 5.74%, and 3.01% of shares.