Jersey-based gold miner to move to Kazakhstan in response to sanctions

Thursday 26 January 2023

An Anglo-Russian gold miner which has its registered address in Seaton Place is leaving the island to move to Kazakhstan, according to national media reports.

The Financial Times reports that Polymetal, based at Charter Place, is going to change where it is domiciled so it can “carve out its Russian business in the wake of sanctions and war”.

It writes: “Until recently one of the most profitable gold miners in the world and a FTSE 100 company until last year, Polymetal has become emblematic of the difficulties in navigating mounting sanctions against Russia, despite not being targeted itself.

“By redomiciling to Kazakhstan, the company could be allowed by Moscow to split its assets, carving out its Kazakh and Russian mines into separate entities.”

According to Polymetal’s website, the company is “a top-ten global gold producer and top-five global silver producer with assets in Russia and Kazakhstan listed on the London Stock Exchange, Moscow Stock Exchange and Astana International Exchange.

“[It] has a portfolio of ten producing gold and silver mines and an impressive pipeline of future growth projects.”

The company first registered with the Jersey Financial Services Commission in 2010 and, a year later, it listed on the London Stock Exchange, raising US$763m from its initial public offering.

The FT reports: “Russia has banned asset sales by gold miners domiciled in ‘unfriendly’ places such as Polymetal’s current choice of the Channel Islands.

Chief executive Vitaly Nesis told the newspaper: “[The move] would allow for the restoration of shareholder value, because the Kazakh business would re-emerge without being under the shadow of sanctions.”

He added that the redomiciling could be completed by the third quarter of this year, allowing for the split to take place potentially in the first quarter of 2024.

EU sanctions adopted in December prohibit new investment in the Russian mining sector.