OFAC temporarily unblocks shares of Severstal, Nordgold to ease withdrawal from them

MOSCOW. Aug 3 (Interfax) - U.S. financial institutions have been permitted to unblock shares and bonds of Severstal and Nordgold , which have been frozen since sanctions were imposed on them on June 2 and through June 28. Access to the securities is now permitted through August 31.

A clause to that effect was added to OFAC's license to sell or transfer securities to Severstal and Nordgold, which is in effect until the end of this month.

Severstal and Nordgold were included on the SDN List along with Alexei Mordashov and his family members.

Almost immediately after sanctions were imposed, Nordgold, which has a $400 million Eurobond issue outstanding with maturity in 2024, invited bondholders to make offers for redemption of their securities. Both Nordgold and Severstal had problems servicing their Eurobonds even before they were put on the SDN List, in the spring, after Mordashov was put on the EU sanctions list.