Putin authorises sale of Russian company shares owned by Goldman Sachs

By Alexander Marrow and Darya Korsunskaya

(Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin has authorised Armenian investment fund Balchug Capital to buy shares in nine major companies owned by Goldman Sachs' Russian subsidiary, a decree published on Wednesday showed.

Balchug Capital and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

Balchug Capital was given the green light to purchase Goldman Sachs' subsidiary in Russia in January, according to a separate decree, paving the way for the U.S. bank to withdraw from the Russian market and extract some capital stranded there.

Moscow has steadily tightened restrictions on foreign asset sales since the start of the war in Ukraine, demanding discounts of at least 60% and requiring transactions involving banks and energy companies to obtain Putin's approval.

The latest decree, published on a Russian government portal, stated that Balchug Capital could buy Goldman Sachs International's shares in energy companies Gazprom, Rosneft, Novatek, Lukoil, Tatneft and Surgutneftegas, as well as in steelmaker NLMK, electricity operator InterRAO and telecoms provider Rostelecom.

The value of all shares listed in the decree amounted to almost $80 million, according to Reuters calculations. The price of the proposed transaction was not disclosed.

In response to Western sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine that froze around $300 billion of Russia's sovereign assets in Western jurisdictions, Moscow started diverting foreign-owned funds in Russia to special "type-C" accounts, access to which is blocked unless Moscow grants a waiver.

Large Western banks with Russian subsidiaries have tried many times to get permission from the Russian authorities to sell all their clients' assets at a discount, Ararat Mkrtchian, CEO of Armenian broker Sirius Capital, told Reuters.

"These (banks) were prime brokers for American and European funds and they owned Russian assets, stocks and bonds," he said. "Now that Goldman Sachs (the subsidiary) has been sold, this additional permission to sell assets the bank had essentially allows the client business to exit."

Balchug Capital's CEO and founder David Amaryan oversees all investment activity.

Last year, the company acquired U.S. machinery maker Caterpillar's Russian assets.

(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow and Alexander Marrow and Darya Korsunskaya in London; additional reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Jane Merriman)