This year holders of Gazproms American Depositary Receipts (ADR) run the risk of seeing no dividend payouts if the gas monopoly opens no nominal holding account at the National Settlement Depositary (NSD, has the status of a central depositary), RBC daily wrote. The gas mammoth explains a pause in the resolution of this issue with an agreement signed with Bank of New York Melon, which contains no provisions allowing to open accounts under regulations that were recently approved in the Russian Federation.
By April Russian listed companies were to open accounts at the central depositary. This is necessary to take records of the rights of foreign investors that previously viewed investments in Russian stocks and receipts as risky.
The gas producer is the only blue-chip company that has not yet opened a nominal holding account at the central depositary, Boris Cherkassky, NSDs senior VP and director for stragegic planning, said at an IPO congress. According to him, the problem could be solved within three months. “To this end Gazprombank, which acts as Gazproms agent under depositary receipts, should re-sign an agreement with Bank of New York Melon," said Cherkassky, adding the statutory deadline to open a nominal holding account is November.
Gazprom gave no comments to RBC daily on the possibility of re-signing the ADR-related agreement. At present, ADRs account for 28.35% of the gas concerns capital. Over a quarter of daily turnover in Russian stocks and receipts abroad falls to Gazproms shares. Gazprom is the No. 2 stock on the MSCI EM Index, on which foreign index funds keep an eye.