OREANDA-NEWS. June 15, 2012. JSC “Polymetal” (MICEX-RTS: PMTL) (together with its subsidiaries and holding companies – “Polymetal”) announces that its equity ownership in Polygon Gold Inc. (together with its subsidiaries – “Polygon”), which owns the Veduga gold deposit (“Veduga”) in the Krasnoyarsk region of the Russian Federation, has decreased from 81.8% to 42.6%, reported the press-centre of Polymetal.   

This reduction occurred as a result of the two transactions that completed this week.

On June 4, 2012 Polygon’s share capital was increased to 1,571 shares by the issuance of 471 new shares to an affiliate of Gazprombank (OJSC) (“Gazprombank”) for a total consideration of US\\$14.2 million paid in cash. The proceeds from the offering will be used to finance the Veduga project and repay part of Polygon’s debt. In addition, Gazprombank has expressed an interest to providing project financing to Polygon to develop Veduga into a producing mine.

On June 7, 2012 Polymetal sold 230 of its shares in Polygon to Sibproekt LLC, a private Russian investor, for a total consideration of USD8.0 million payable in cash.

“These deals represent logical continuation of our efforts to maximize the value of our stake in Polygon and ensure the availability of financing for the development of Veduga,” said Vitaly Nesis, CEO of Polymetal.