En+ Group Plc, billionaire Oleg Deripaska’s sanctioned company, said its power unit will move from Cyprus to a Russian offshore zone created by the Kremlin in response to American sanctions.
En+’s board “approved in principle” the re-domiciling of En+ Holding Ltd., which owns hydro-power stations, the company said in emailed statement on Thursday.
Deripaska and En+, which is the biggest shareholder in aluminum producer United Co. Rusal, was sanctioned by the U.S. on April 6. The unit’s relocation became possible after Vladimir Putin signed into law this month a proposal to create Special Administrative Regions, offshore zones in Primorsky and Kaliningrad that will allow internationally registered companies to move back to Russia, while retaining tax benefits.
In a statement Friday, Rusal also said it’s considering a switch from its Jersey, U.K., domicile to the Russian Federation in light of the SAR law, and that the move would be subject to shareholders approval.
EN+ Commitment
While En+ remains “committed” to its London listing, according to Chairman Greg Barker, its board also asked the management to look into possibility of re-domiciling the parent company to Russia.
