Petropavlovsk PLC (LSE:POG) has filed to enter administration following a recent demand from the Russian gold miner’s main lender Gazprombank for the immediate repayment of a US$201mln loan.
The company, once one of the largest gold producers listed in London, said it resolved to file with the court an application for an administration order appointing Allister Manson, Trevor Binyon and Jo Rolls of Opus Business Advisory Group as administrators.
The board will seek a hearing of the administration application at the High Court in London in the coming days.
Petropavlovsk previously announced it was considering selling its operating assets as sanctions imposed on Gazprombank, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, meant that the gold producer was unable to sell its gold or service its debts.
Petropavlovsk has received an offer from one party and an expression of interest from another and said today that talks with both parties are ongoing. However, it added that its shareholders would be unlikely to benefit from any sale due to the group’s high levels of debt.
It has requested that its shares and the guaranteed convertible 8.25% bonds due 2024 be suspended in London, and that its shares and trading of US$500mln 8.125% guaranteed notes 2022 both be suspended in Moscow.