MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia will sell a majority stake in gold producer Uzhuralzoloto it seized from businessman Konstantin Strukov to a unit of state-owned Gazprombank, the Interfax news agency cited the finance ministry as saying on Friday.
Foreign companies have grappled with the risk of state seizure since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, but Moscow, citing strategic stability and domestic security, has increasingly turned its attention to domestic assets too.
Russia’s general prosecutor’s office last month won a lawsuit to transfer ownership of Strukov’s shares in Uzhuralzoloto (UGC), Russia’s fourth-largest gold producer, to the state, after prosecutors alleged that Strukov had obtained property “through corruption”.
Reuters sought comment from Strukov through UGC, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The businessman, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes at $1.9 billion, was placed under sanctions by some Western countries, including Britain, which has said his work as a director of a company in the Russian extractives sector supported the Russian government. UGC itself is under U.S. sanctions.
Interfax quoted deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseev as saying the state would sell the majority stake, valued at 85 billion roubles ($1.06 billion), to UGC’s large minority shareholder, which was not specified.
“We want (to do it) this year,” Interfax quoted Moiseev as saying. “This is one of the assets we plan to sell as soon as possible.”
UGC shares were up 0.1% on the day, underperforming the wider MOEX index, which was 0.7% higher.
Gazprombank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ASSET SEIZURES
The UGC case is the latest in a growing series of asset seizures initiated by Russian prosecutors, which have seen some $50 billion transferred to state coffers over the past three years, according to research published in July.
Strukov owned a 67.8% stake in UGC, according to company data as of the end of 2024. A company connected to Gazprombank, AAA Capital, bought a 22% stake late last year and the remaining 10% of shares floated on the Moscow Exchange in 2023 and 2024 in two public offerings.
Since 2000, Strukov has served on Chelyabinsk Region’s legislative assembly. He is deputy speaker of the region’s parliament and a member of the ruling United Russia party.
Dmitry Malbin, a lawyer who represented UGC in court, has said that UGC complies with the law and had never benefited from Strukov’s position in the Chelyabinsk assembly.
($1 = 80.0000 roubles)
(Reporting by ReutersWriting by Alexander MarrowEditing by David Goodman, Elaine Hardcastle and Jane Merriman)
