Russia's largest gold and silver company moves business to Kazakhstan due to sanctions

Key top managers of Polymetal JSC, Russia's largest silver producer and one of the largest gold miners, have resigned from their posts, the company announced on Monday.

Source: moscowtimes.eu

Vitaly Nesis, chief executive officer, and Maxim Nazimok, chief financial officer, have resigned from all senior positions at Polymetal's Russian unit, which was hit by US sanctions in May.

Nesis and Nazimok will retain their current positions at Polymetal International plc and will focus their efforts on operations in Kazakhstan, where the company concentrates about a third of its production capacity.

According to Polymetal's press service, they will also be involved in the company's relocation to the International Financial Center in Astana, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

Currently, Polymetal, whose largest shareholder is billionaire Alexander Nesis, who lives in Switzerland, is registered on the island of Jersey. The re-registration of the parent company in Kazakhstan will allow the company to resume paying dividends to all shareholders, some of whom are currently unable to receive them due to EU sanctions.

Polymetal's Russian operations, located in the Magadan and Sverdlovsk regions, as well as in the Khabarovsk Territory, Yakutia and Chukotka, account for about two-thirds of its production. The company produces the rest in Kazakhstan at two mines, which brought it half of its profits last year.

In 2024, Polymetal may split its business into Russian and Kazakh parts, Nesis told the Financial Times. According to him, the move to Kazakhstan, followed by the division of assets, will help restore the company's shareholder value, which has fallen by almost 7 times since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.