The Ministry of Finance is concerned about the situation with the seizure of shares from minority shareholders – Kommersant

The Ministry of Finance is concerned about the recent seizure of shares from private investors in Solikamsk Magnesium Plant OJSC, but recognizes the legality of this decision. Now the Ministry of Finance is analyzing the situation with minority shareholders and assessing the need to change legislation, said Deputy Minister Ivan Chebeskov.

“We are now analyzing the situation, whether something needs to be done here in terms of introducing changes to the legislation or whether some other decisions are needed on these issues. But we are concerned about exactly these issues,” he told the correspondent RBC on the sidelines of the VI Congress of the Association of Russian Banks. To the journalist’s question about what kind of “other decisions” could be made, Mr. Chebeskov replied: “We need to work it out.”

March 22 Arbitration Court of the Perm Territory satisfied claim by the regional prosecutor for the recovery in favor of the Russian Federation of 10.5% of the shares of the Solikamsk magnesium plant. 10.5% of the shares belonged to more than 2 thousand minority shareholders. Previously, the supervisory authority was able to achieve a decision to turn over 89% of the shares of SMZ, owned by a group of businessmen, into state revenue.

The prosecutor’s office believed that the shares were privatized illegally in the 1990s. A representative of the Bank of Russia, involved in the case as a third party, insisted that the court refuse the request of the prosecutor’s office.

Read more about the high-profile case in the material “Minority Particles”.

Evgeny Belousov