Evraz suspends planned demerger of coal assets

Russian steelmaker Evraz said on Friday that it had suspended "indefinitely" the planned demerger of its coal assets consolidated under PJSC Raspadskaya.

The company said it was awaiting "clarification regarding regulatory restrictions, both from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) and HM Treasury, following the Financial Sanctions Notice issued on March 10th, 2022 and from the Russian authorities on the shareholder rights to dispose of the shares received as part of the demerger process".

Earlier in the day, Evraz announced that 10 of its board members had resigned following sanctions on majority shareholder and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich. The Russian oligarch owns just under 29% of Evraz.

Shares in the steelmaker were suspended from trading on Thursday following the sanctions on Abramovich.

The London Stock Exchange said in a notice that the Financial Conduct Authority had temporarily suspended the shares "in order to protect investors pending clarification of the impact of the UK sanctions".