UK imposes sanctions on Roman Abramovich-linked steel firm Evraz
The UK government has placed sanctions on Evraz, the multinational steelmaker part-owned by the billionaire Roman Abramovich that was formerly counted among Britain’s biggest companies.
The Foreign Office said on Thursday that Evraz “operates in sectors of strategic significance to the government of Russia”, and the action would “further chip away at Putin’s financial reserves and siege economy, and support Ukraine’s continued resistance”.
Evraz’s registered office is in London’s Mayfair district, but it has vast mining and steelmaking operations in Russia, with more than 70,000 employees.
The UK and allies including the US and EU have used sanctions on Russian companies and businessmen as one of the main tools to respond to the invasion of Ukraine.
The Evraz measure is thought to be the first time a former FTSE 100 member has been subject to sanctions. It completes the fall from grace of a company that was valued at more than £5bn as recently as January.
Its membership of the index meant that shares in the company were held by a wide variety of investors managing money for pensions, including BlackRock, Schroders Investment Management, Vanguard and Legal & General.
Evraz shares were suspended from trading on the London Stock Exchange in March after the UK government highlighted its alleged strategic significance to Russia when imposing sanctions on Abramovich, who owns a 29% stake in the company. Its board also resigned after the sanctions on Abramovich.
The government had in Abramovich’s sanctions designation alleged that Evraz was “potentially supplying steel to the Russian military which may have been used in the production of tanks”. This charge, which was strenuously denied by Evraz, was not included in the company’s
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