investors complained to the Central Bank about LUKOIL due to concealment of financial integrity – Kommersant

The Association of Bond Owners (ABO) asked the Bank of Russia to check LUKOIL (MOEX: LKOH) for violations of financial reporting disclosure rules. The Association sent a letter to the Director of the Corporate Relations Department of the Bank of Russia, Ekaterina Abasheeva, on March 24, the letter was read “Vedomosti”.

Investors believe that LUKOIL violated the rules for disclosing financial results, since LUKOIL’s IFRS for 2023 does not contain comparative financial results for 2022, which is not provided for by current legislative easing. According to investors, the published information is not enough to assess the company’s activities. The association is asking the regulator to review the “significant violations” and take action. There were no similar requests regarding other issuers of securities.

The company’s latest IFRS report contains a note that comparative results for 2022 have not been published by management’s decision, since this information is classified as sensitive and was not disclosed in accordance with Government Decree No. 351, which ceased to be in effect in July 2023. The company also referred to the standards enshrined in resolutions No. 1490 and No. 1102.

Resolution No. 1102, which replaced No. 351, specified information that a company may not disclose, as well as the grounds for concealment. Thus, companies operating in the LPR, DPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, authorized banks, and also in respect of which restrictions have been introduced have the right not to disclose information. No restrictions have been introduced regarding LUKOIL.

Decree No. 1490 allows a company not to disclose information that was not previously required to be published. There is also Presidential Decree No. 903, which allows Russian companies to independently determine the volume and composition of disclosed data if their publication may lead to sanctions. In this case, the company is required to send a notification to the regulator. The Central Bank reported that it had received a letter from the ABO and would consider it within the time frame established by law. LUKOIL did not answer Vedomosti’s question.

Alexandra Goroshilova