Ministry suggests 9 firms transfer GDRs to friendly states

MOSCOW, Jun 1 (PRIME) -- The Russian Finance Ministry has recommended that nine companies continuing their global depositary receipt (GDR) programs transfer them to the friendly states, the authority said in a statement Wednesday.

The government earlier allowed 15 companies to keep their GDR programs.

"The decision to prolong the programs without time restrictions was made for the depositary programs of nine issuers, with a recommendation that they transfer the depositary programs to the jurisdictions of the states not listed as the foreign states and territories committing unfriendly actions towards the Russian Federation, Russian legal entities and people," the ministry said.

President Vladimir Putin signed a decree in April forbidding local companies to trade depositary receipts abroad. A special permission might be granted by the government, otherwise, all depositary receipts shall be converted into local shares.

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