OFSI extends Evraz NA's license to continue operations until March 31, 2024

MOSCOW. June 26 (Interfax) - The UK's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has extended the license for Evraz's North American division to continue operations for an additional six months until March 31, 2024, the OFSI said in a statement.

The OFSI imposed sanctions against Evraz on April 29, 2022, noting that the company operates in "strategically important sectors for the Russian authorities", providing 28% of the Russian market's demand for railway wheels and 97% of the demand for rails.

However, the OFSI issued a license to permit operations with Evraz's North American subsidiaries until September 2, 2022, namely Evraz North America plc, Evraz Inc. NA and Evraz Inc. NA - Canada. The license was later extended to March 31, 2023, and then to September 30, 2023. The OFSI in May also published clarifications that the license also applies to these companies' respective subsidiaries.

Evraz has steel mills in Portland, Oregon, United States, which utilize slabs from the group's Nizhny Tagil plant; as well as in Pueblo, Colorado; and in Regina, Calgary, and Red Deer, Canada. Evraz North America produced 1.88 million tonnes of steel products in 2021, including rolled products, rails, large-diameter pipes and OCTG.

Evraz, which announced in August 2022 that it planned to sell its North American division, said in its November 2022 report on Evraz NA that it might require additional licenses from the UK government in order to complete the sale.

Evraz is a major vertically integrated steel and mining company. In March 2022, Evraz shareholder Roman Abramovich was hit with sanctions by the UK and then by the European Union. Later, the UK imposed sanctions against the company itself, and then Abramovich's business partner Yevgeny Shvidler and Evraz founders Alexander Abramov and Alexander Frolov.