Russian gold miner Polyus Gold has delayed plans to get a full listing on the prestigious FTSE 100 index in London after the government's commission on foreign investment headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin did not approve the company's relocation to the UK.
Polyus Gold, currently a Moscow-listed company with its global depositary receipts traded in London, announced plans in early October to register its parent company, Polyus Gold Plc, in the UK and launched preparations to list its ordinary shares on the London Stock Exchange and be included in the FTSE 100 index to attract investors and boost stock liquidity.
Polyus Gold, which is controlled by Russian billonaires Mikhail Prokhorov and Suleiman Kerimov, said in a statement issued late on Tuesday that the government commission on foreign investment had delayed its decision on whether to approve the company's plans.
A date for a new sitting for the commission, which normally convenes once every two or three months, has not been set. Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the commission would consider the issue after it received additional information.
The delay comes just a month after Prokhorov was ousted as head of a liberal political party and responded by lashing out at Vladislav Surkov, a long-serving Kremlin ideologist, accusing him of "privatizing" the country's political system and behaving like a "puppet-master."
