Petropavlovsk shares tumbled on Monday after the gold miner said it was unable to pay the coupon due on 14 May of around $12.36m in respect of a $500m bond issued in 2016.
This is partly because the company, which has operations in Russia, has been unable to extract cash from its Russian subsidiaries in the current environment and due to the previously announced acceleration of the $201m term loan between it and UMMC-Invest.
The news came as Petropavlovsk said it had been notified by Gazprombank that the revolving credit facilities between it and the group’s Russian subsidiaries have been assigned to a new creditor, Nordic LLC.
“Petropavlovsk continues to explore its options to determine the company’s course of action in light of recent events and their impact on the group’s financial position in the best interest of all stakeholders, including creditors and shareholders,” it said.
Last month, the company said these options included the sale of its entire interests in its operating subsidiaries “as soon as practically possible”.
“That process is continuing, and it remains unclear what return, if any, may be secured for shareholders or the holders of the group’s listed debt securities as a result of that process,” it said.
At 1405 BST, the shares were down 34% at 1.32p.
