Evraz makes 28% of all Russian railroad wheels and 97% of the country's rail tracks, which are "vital as Russia uses the railroad to transport essential military supplies and troops to the front lines in Ukraine." This is stated in the statement of the British government dated May 5.
“Along with existing measures, this action will further deter companies operating in strategic sectors in Russia,” London said, adding that the asset freeze means no UK citizen or company will be able to do business with Evraz.
“These sanctions will further reduce Putin’s financial reserves and his economy, as well as support the ongoing resistance of Ukraine,” the UK government said.
Earlier, on March 10, the UK froze the British assets of several Russian oligarchs, including Evraz shareholder Roman Abramovich, and banned them from entering the country and from conducting any business with British citizens and companies.
On March 11, all Evraz non-executive directors — Alexander Abramov, Alexander Frolov, Alexander Izosimov, Deborah Gudgeon, Eugene Shvidler, Eugene Tenenbaum, Karl Gruber, Maria Gordon, Sir Michael Peet and Stephen Odell — resigned.
Evraz stated at the time that Abramovich owns a 28.64% stake in the company and has appointed only two members of the board of directors over the past five years. % of shares and did not have the right to appoint or dismiss the majority of members of the board of directors. Thus, Evraz believes that UK sanctions against a shareholder should not apply to the company itself.
Furthermore, Evraz denied in its statement that it was involved in providing services, funds, resources, goods or technology to destabilize Ukraine, and stated that it did not supply the Russian army with steel that could be used in the production of tanks. Evraz sells steel only to the infrastructure and construction sectors, the Russian company added.
Evraz is a large vertically integrated steel and mining company and one of the largest producers of vanadium in the world. The largest shareholder is Roman Abramovich, who owns 28.64% of Evraz. Alexander Abramov through Abiglaze Ltd. controls 19.32% of the capital, Alexander Frolov (Crosland Global Ltd.) - 9.65%, Gennady Kozovoy owns 5.74%, Maxim Vorobyov - 3.01%.
