17 Jul 2017 07:50
Effect on Sistema's debt obligations of injunctionin case brought by Rosneft and Bashneft
Moscow, 17 July 2017 - Sistema PJSFC (hereinafter "Sistema" or "the Corporation") (LSE: SSA, MOEX: AFKS), a publicly traded diversified Russian holding company, announces that as of 17 July 2017, a technical default has occurred on credit obligations of the Corporation amounting to approximately RUB 3.9 billion.
The technical default took place due to the ongoing arrest of shares of MTS, Medsi and Bashkirian Power Grid Company owned by the Corporation and Sistema-Invest, which was imposed by the Republic of Bashkortostan Arbitration Court as part of legal proceedings initiated by Rosneft, Bashneft and later joined by the Republic of Bashkortostan (the "Claimants") against Sistema and Sistema-Invest seeking RUB 170.6 billion in damages allegedly incurred by Bahsneft in connection with its reorganisation.
Sistema stresses that non-compliance with certain conditions of some of its credit facilities, which triggered the technical default, is driven exclusively by the arrest of the above-mentioned assets and is purely formal in nature. Sistema is servicing its credit and financial obligations in a timely manner and in full, and plans to continue doing so in the future.
Sistema believes that the arrest of its assets is unfounded, and continues to take all necessary steps to have the arrest lifted. To this end the Corporation has filed an appeal with the 18th Arbitration Court of Appeal.
Guided by its policy of openness and transparency, Sistema informs shareholders and investors about the progress of the court proceedings on its website: http://www.sistema.com/investoram-i-akcioneram/informacija-ob-iske-k-afk-sistema/.
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For further information, please visit www.sistema.ru or contact:
IR Service Yury Krebs Tel.: +7 (495) 730 66 00 y.krebs@sistema.ru | Press service Sergey Kopytov Tel.: +7 (495) 228 15 27 kopytov@sistema.ru |
Sistema PJSFC is a publicly traded diversified Russian holding company serving over 150 million customers in such sectors as telecommunications, retail, paper and packaging, agriculture, high technology, banking, real estate, pharmaceuticals, tourism and healthcare services. The company was founded in 1993. Its revenue in 2016 reached RUB 697.7bn; its total assets equalled RUB 1.1tn as of 31 December 2016. Sistema's global depositary receipts are listed under the "SSA" ticker on the London Stock Exchange. Sistema's ordinary shares are listed under the "AFKS" ticker on the Moscow Exchange. Website: www.sistema.ru