Russia’s Otkritie bank gets stake in Polymetal

Russia’s Otkritie bank has become a shareholder in Russian gold and silver producer Polymetal, the bank’s managing director Alexander Dmitriev said on Tuesday.

The bank owns 7.56 percent in Polymetal and has no plans to sell the stake, Dmitriev added. He did not elaborate on how the bank had become a shareholder of Polymetal. Polymetal is co-owned by businessman Alexander Nesis.

Otkritie bank was part of the larger Otkritie group, where Nesis is also a shareholder. Last month, the central bank decided to take over Otkritie bank in a bail out.

In a separate statement on Tuesday, Polymetal said that Russia’s central bank had taken over a decision-making process in the bank and Otkritie Holding no longer has voting or power of disposition over shares in Polymetal by Bank Otkritie. (Reporting by Diana Asonova and Katya Golubkova; Editing by Dmitry Solovyov)