OFAC allows until Aug 31 to dispose of Severstal, Nordgold securities

MOSCOW. June 28 (Interfax) - The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a license for the sale or transfer of securities issued by Severstal and Nordgold , which have been subject to blocking sanctions since June 2.

The license expires on August 31, the Department said.

The license to wind down transactions with Severstal, issued on June 2 when the steel company was added to the SDN list, is valid until August 31, while a similar license issued to Nordgold on June 2 is valid until July 1.

OFAC did not issue licenses to transfer securities when the companies were sanctioned.

Severstal and Nordgold were added to the SDN List together with Alexei Mordahsov and members of his family.

Nordgold has $400 million in Eurobonds outstanding that mature in 2024. It offered to buy back the bonds almost immediately after the U.S. sanctions were imposed. Both Nordgold and Severstal faced problems servicing their Eurobonds in the spring, when Mordashov was sanctioned by the EU, in other words even before they were included in the SDN list.