MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/. The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) has suspended trading in shares of Yuzhuralzoloto (UGK) at the request of the Bank of Russia, the exchange reported.

"The Moscow Exchange has suspended trading in PJSC UGK shares based on an order by the Bank of Russia. Trading in UGK shares has been suspended in all trading modes," the report said.

Trading in the remaining instruments on the trading platform is carried out as normal. According to MOEX trading data as of 10:29 a.m. Moscow time (7:29 a.m. GMT), trading in UGK shares was suspended at 47.68 kopecks per share (-0.13%).

Earlier, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office filed a lawsuit to transfer shares of the Yuzhuralzoloto company owned by billionaire Konstantin Strukov to the state's treasury. As noted in the lawsuit, Strukov, who has been a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Chelyabinsk Region since 2000, and deputy chairman of the Legislative Assembly since 2017, breaching the ban on engaging in entrepreneurial activity, through the bankruptcy procedure took possession of the property of Yuzhuralzoloto, a company he previously headed, through setting up Yuzhnouralzoloto Group of Companies.

The Prosecutor General's Office filed a relevant lawsuit with the Sovetsky District Court of Chelyabinsk. A total of eight people are named as defendants in the suit, as well as five companies that acted as third parties. According to a source familiar with the case, the Prosecutor General’s Office is seeking the seizure of shares and equity stakes allegedly obtained through corrupt means. The court will consider the action on July 8.