Member Info for EasiWynns

Ah yes, 2010ish, when then President Medvedev went to USA for a tour of Silicon Valley to get tips for creating a tech hub outside Moscow and co-operating with these (USA) companies.

He had a burger with Obama at Ray's Hell Burgers in Virginia, and met Schwarzenegger who recounted filming Red Heat in Moscow.

He didn't meet the co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin, though who had been scathing about the land of his ancestry, previously describing Russia as "Nigeria with snow".

Medvedev no longer seems to be the same person he once was (or perhaps was pretending to be).

"It is not Ukraine who is fighting ..."

The Ukrainians may not agree with such a bold - and yet simultaneously ridiculous - statement.

"... in general holders behind nominee accounts are unknown on the company share register ... And the Broker has no interest to move to Moex or HK or Dubai."

And of course that's one of the biggest advantages of a nominee account - the company doesn't know who you are.

The investment platform does not dictate either where the company is registered, nor where the shares are listed. It may be that they won't hold them on their platform if they move jurisdiction and/or listing country, and then you'd need to obtain certificates, or move it to a nominee that would hold them.

Those in nominee accounts still own the shares directly, but in dematerialised/uncertificated form.

For those that disagree with Evraz over whether all shareholders assets are frozen, and not just Abramovich's, it might be worth contacting Evraz directly to understand why they have stated what they have.

Buying and selling shares does not involve the company itself, unless you are buying new shares. The company gains no economic interest from third party transactions, so that's presumably why Evraz has said what it has.

If you buy steel from Evraz, that would be different; that would be doing "business" with them.

Morning stuGGTTH
This is what Evraz wrote in their recent half-yearly report:

"On 5 May 2022, as part of financial sanctions against Russia, the UK Government imposed direct sanctions on the EVRAZ plc. This means the freezing of assets of EVRAZ plc, including the Company’s inability to pay dividends unless a special licence is granted by respective UK authorities.

Despite of the Company’s sanctioned status in the UK, the shareholders’ stakes in the Company were not frozen, excluding the stake of Mr Abramovich."

"... neither option gives us the latitude to actually conduct any 'business' with our share holding - we cannot buy or sell these shares ..."

Evraz have stated that, except for Abramovich, the assets of shareholders are not frozen so presumably they could be sold or transferred in a private transaction, or later publicly if it's current listing were reinstated or it relisted elsewhere even if sanctions remained.

If the above it true (do others agree?), then one advantage of having share certificates would be that the shares could be sold or transferred, if you could find a buyer, just not on public markets.

Having said that, I'm keeping mine in nominee/uncertificated form for the time being because I don't want Evraz to have my personal information, especially bank account details, which may be held in Russia once the registrar, Computershare, is no longer involved.

From Polymetal's website (March 2022):

> Mr Alexander Nesis is a Swiss resident with citizenship of Israel, Malta and Russia.
> ICT Holding Ltd, a company incorporated and resident in the Republic of Cyprus, which directly and indirectly holds 23.9% interest in the Company as disclosed on 25 September 2020.
> ICT Holding Ltd (Cyprus) is a 100% subsidiary of Investment Construction Technology (ICT) Group LTD, a company incorporated and resident in the Republic of Cyprus, which in its turn is owned by Mr Alexander Nesis – 47.29% and a number of other persons.

It wouldn't surprise me if most of his holdings, as a "citizen of the world", are listed outside Russia.

Latest half-year report:
"On 5 May 2022, as part of financial sanctions against Russia, the UK Government imposed direct sanctions on the EVRAZ plc. This means the freezing of assets ... including ... inability to pay DIVIDENDS unless a special licence is granted by respective UK authorities."

"I'm of the same opinion that any excess cash from the sale of NA would be distributed to paper certificate shareholders."

That can't happen - the form of holding the shares (certificated/uncertificated) won't matter.

I don't think they are frozen, except for Abramovich's, and this is consistent with what @infinity888 posted earlier.
If you tried to some steel from them ("do business with them"), then that would likely not be allowed.

Evarz stated the following in their recent half-yearly report:

"On 5 May 2022, as part of financial sanctions against Russia, the UK Government imposed direct sanctions on the EVRAZ plc.

This means the freezing of assets of EVRAZ plc, including the Company’s inability to pay dividends unless a special licence is granted by respective UK authorities.

Despite of the Company’s sanctioned status in the UK, the shareholders’ stakes in the Company were not frozen, excluding the stake of Mr Abramovich."

Yes, once taken from the ISA you would need to sell them and then use the current year allowance to invest back into the ISA.

That's why I think that for ISA there must be some benefit in leaving them where they are for the time being, but I'm open to why this may not be the best course of action.

If you obtain certificates this would remove them from your ISA tax wrapper, and they cannot subsequently be returned to an ISA, either at HL or elsewhere - that's my understanding.

Wizz Air Holdings plc is a company registered in Jersey(CI), is managed from Switzerland, and has a number of subsidiary airlines, one of which is in Hungary and another in Abu Dhabi. Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is a joint venture between Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ and the European airline, and is based in Abu Dhabi.

Russia has reportedly banned all flights from all EU countries, among others, and so these are Abu Dhabi to Moscow flights only. Abu Dhabi wasn't a country sanctioned by Russia.

Q: I’m still undecided. If going for the certificate option, how do people feel about having their personal and bank details held directly by Evraz ?
A: I won't be giving them my details unless there's no choice but to do so, so am staying uncertificated/dematerialised for now.

Q: Would you be breaking sanctions rules as an individual for being in direct contact with a ‘Russian’ company ?
A: From Evraz's half-year results document: "Despite of the Company’s sanctioned status in the UK, the shareholders’ stakes in the Company were not frozen, excluding the stake of Mr Abramovich."

"... those of us who have requested paper certificates have had a letter directly from Evraz wanting us to give nominated bank account ..."

This is why staying in uncertificated/dematerialised form seems preferable to me at the moment, thereby preventing another party having my personal information, especially bank account details.

It's also not clear where Evraz's share register will ultimately be held, but my guess (and it's only a guess) would be in the Russian Federation. Does anyone know for sure?

I fear that those adamant that sanctions will be removed very soon, and the war (or "special military operation", if you prefer) will end before the winter will find themselves struggling to come to terms with their abject failure to see the even bigger picture.

"Yale study shows sanctions are crippling Russia's economy"
https://www.dw.com/en/yale-study-shows-sanctions-are-crippling-russias-economy/a-62623738