MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/. Russian corporation En+ Group has dismissed the information related to its IPO floatation on the London Stock Exchange that was published on Wednesday by The Daily Telegraph. It called the report false and inflicting serious damage on the corporation’s reputation.
A spokesperson for En+ told reporters the corporation was taking counsel with lawyers to elaborate a platform for further steps.
"The Daily Telegraph made a multitude of false accusations and assertions regarding En+ Group and its listed filial company, UC RUSAL," he said. "These charges are inflicting serious damage on our reputation and we turn them down unconditionally."
"At this moment, the corporation is taking counsel with lawyers on the possible further actions," the spokesman said.
The Daily Telegraph alleged that the MI6, the UK foreign intelligence service had "raised concerns" over the situation En+ Group "[…] was able to use the London Stock Exchange to raise an estimated GBP 1 billion".
"Security sources have raised questions over how EN+, an energy company, came to be floated last November without the intelligence services being properly consulted," the daily wrote.
It mentioned Mike Penning, a former defense minister, who "tabled a series of questions about the flotation of EN+ in the Commons, including whether Russian companies listed on the London Stock Exchange that supply aluminum to Russia ‘represent a threat to the UK’s national interests and security’,".
While declaring En+ Group’s ostensible faults, Penning said: "It is linked to military hardware and missiles that are being pointed at NATO and the West."
The claimed the Western anti-Russian sanctions "[…] were put in place for a reason." "Russia is an enemy," he added.
A well-informed source said to The Daily Telegraph: "Serious concerns have been raised about the apparent failure to make proper checks about the likely implications for Britain’s security of allowing the EN+ sale to take place in the City."
En+ Group said on its part it had done the IPO in full compliance with all the requirements and the assimilation of funds raised as part of the offering had not violated the EU and U.S. sanctions in any way.
"En+ Group’s IPO strictly followed all the UKLA and FCA requirements," the spokesman said. "Utilization of the funds raised through the IPO didn’t encroach on either U.S. or EU sanctions. En+ Group and UC RUSAL have all the necessary policies and procedures in place for full conformity to the sanctions applicable to the operations of both companies."
He gave the assurances that En+ Group had always observed the sanction requirements.
En+ Group is an integrated producer of aluminum and electric power. Its power plants have an aggregated output of 19.7 gigawatts, while aluminum factories [owned through a controlling stake in UC RUSAL] produce 3.9 million tons of the metal a year.
Businessman Oleg Deripaska is the beneficiary of the holding company. At the end of January, the U.S. Department of the Treasury put him on its notorious so-called ‘Kremlin list’.