Investigators start case against Petropavlovsk Plc, acting CEO

MOSCOW, Oct 22 (PRIME) -- The Investigative Committee of Russia has launched an investigation against gold producer Petropvalovsk Plc and its acting CEO Maxim Meshcheryakov under the criminal law for unsanctioned actions, Petropavlovsk said in a statement on Thursday.

“The Investigative Committee of Moscow has launched an investigation of events connected to acting CEO Petropavlovsk Maxim Meshcheryakov. The company understands that this investigation if connected to the events that happened on August 26–27, 2020, when Meshcheryakov was denied access to the company’s office in Moscow, where he entered in the presence of the Moscow police,” the company said.

“The company is aware that the investigation of Meshcheryakov’s actions is connected to a crime envisaged by article 330 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for unsanctioned actions.”

The company said that this article has a very wide definition that may include actions done to protect legal rights or interests.

The company will cooperate with the committee and investigation in full, the company said.

Yuliya Ivanova, senior assistant to the head of the Investigative Committee’s Moscow directorate, told PRIME that Meshcheryakov and other undisclosed individuals colluded and performed unsanctioned actions in relation to the Pokrovsky Rudnik mine, inflicting more than 450,000 rubles of financial damage to the company. The committee is also investigating a case against undisclosed individuals under article 158 of the Criminal Code on a large-scale theft and illegal entry, she said.

She did not disclose what was stolen and from where.

She also said that Meshcheryakov may face up to five years in a penal establishment.

(77.0322 rubles – U.S. $1)

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