Said Gutseriev to sell stake in SFI due to UK sanctions

MOSCOW. June 30 (Interfax) - Said Gutseriev, who was hit by UK blocking sanctions on Wednesday, intends to sell his stake in PJSC SFI and leave the boards of the company and its subsidiaries, SFI reported on Wednesday.

In their rationale for imposing sanctions against Gutseriev, the UK authorities said that he controls SFI, a company that operates in the financial sector, which is strategically important for the Russian government.

SFI said that, as a separate legal entity, it is not included in any sanctions list and is continuing full-scale operations.

In addition to SFI, Said Gutseriev, the son of Russian tycoon Mikhail Gutseriev, has another major public asset, a controlling stake in M.Video-Eldorado (PJSC M.Video ), Russia's leading consumer electronics retailer.

At the end of April he notified the company that he had agreed to sell his directly and indirectly owned shares in PJSC M.Video to Russian entrepreneurs in a deal that is expected to close this year, the retailer said at the time.

As of the end of last year, SFI controlled about 11% of common shares in oil company Russneft , 49% of insurance company VSK, 100% of leasing company Europlan, 10.4% of PJSC M.Video and a 51% stake in cloud gaming service GFN.RU.

Along with Said Gutseriev, the UK imposed sanctions against his uncle, Mikhail Gutseriev's brother Sait-Salam Gutseriev, citing his ties to oil company Neftisa. Mikhail Gutseriev himself has been subject to European Union sanctions for a year already, as he was included in a package of sanctions aimed at Belarus, not related to developments in Ukraine.