The Russian state failed for a third time to auction a 67.2%stake in gold producer Uzhuralzoloto (UGC) that it had seized from its owner last year, the state auction website showed on Wednesday.
The auction was declared void as no bidders were cleared to participate, and no deposit had been paid in respect of the sole bid received from businessman Mikhail Pimulin, the website showed.
Russia’s federal property management agency has not said whether it will hold another auction.
A Russian court ruled last July that the majority UGC stake previously owned by businessman Konstantin Strukov should be transferred to the state, part of a wider pattern of nationalisations of assets of Russian companies and Western firms that have pulled out of Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Prosecutors accused Strukov and several others at the time of obtaining their property “through corruption.” However, he has not been charged and is not in custody. The government is keen to sell the stake to ease budget pressures.
The previous auction failed last month after only one bidder – gold miner Pokrovskiy Rudnik, owned by Atlas Mining – submitted a complete application and paid the deposit, while a second contender failed to pay the deposit and provide the required documents.
The sale was structured as a Dutch auction, in which the price is gradually lowered until a bid is placed. This could have seen the stake sell for as little as 50% of the starting price of 162.02 billion roubles ($2.25 billion).
Another court-confiscated asset, Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, was sold via Dutch auction for the minimum price of $869 million in January.
Source: Reuters.com