Page 121 - RusRPTJul23

Exchange (LSE), the company said in a statement on June 22.
Russian retailer Magnit tripled the volume of the buyback of its shares from 10% to 29.8% (free float of 66%) amid high foreign investor demand to cash in on their shares, RBC business portal reported. As followed by bne IntelliNews, previously the shares of Magnit, one of the top five blue-chip names on Moscow Exchange, have been downgraded to third-tier junk grade for corporate governance violations. It was speculated that the downgrade of the shares and the resulting decline in capitalisation could be used by Magnit's main shareholder, Alexander Vinokurov, son-in-law of Russia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov, to cheaply buy out foreign shareholders that still own almost 50% of Magnit. Magnit indeed announced a buyback offer for 10% of the shares earlier in June. Previously analysts noted that Magnit’s buyback represents a rare opportunity for the investors to buy back their shares in currency other than rubles and take the funds out of the sanctioned Russian accounts. Magnit confirmed that interest from shareholders "significantly exceeded the company's initial expectations", as well as the large number of "requests from shareholders to increase [the buyback volume] in order to sell their stakes to the fullest extent possible", as cited by RBC.
8.5 Fixed income
8.5.1 Fixed income - bond news
The share of foreign investments in Russian federal loan (OFZ) bonds edged down to 9.1% in monthly terms as of June 1, 2023, the Bank of Russia reports on June 27. The share of nonresidents was 9.3% as of May 1 of this year. The par value of OFZ bonds held by nonresidents totaled RUB1.732 trillion ($20.3bn) against the total market size of RUB18.94 trillion ($222bn).
The Russian Finance Ministry honored Eurobond coupon payment obligations in full scope in the amount of RUB19.6bn ($234.8mn) for bonds mature in 2027 and 2047, the Ministry’s press service said. "The money to pay the coupon yield on bonds of external bond loans of the Russian Federation mature in 2027 and 2047 totaling 19.6bn rubles (the equivalent of $234.8mn) were received by the Eurobond payment agent (National Settlement Depository)," the Ministry said.
121 RUSSIA Country Report July 2023 www.intellinews.com