MOSCOW (Reuters) – Shares in Russia’s largest retailer, X5 resumed trading in full in Moscow on Thursday for the first time since the company was forced to redomicile to Russia from the Netherlands in April 2024.
After a volatile opening, the shares settled at around 2,720 roubles ($26.61) per piece, close to where they had last traded in April, but below target prices set by analysts that expect strong dividend payments.
Many Russian companies are registered in the Netherlands or Cyprus.
That has prompted Moscow to use them to try insulate itself from foreign interference or leverage, particularly in the case of economically important entities as Western nations discuss using Russian assets frozen abroad to help fund Ukraine’s war effort.
A Moscow court suspended the corporate rights of X5’s Russian subsidiary in April, in a case initiated by the industry and trade ministry.
The case was the first of its kind since Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in March 2024 approved a list of “economically significant organisations”.
(Reporting by Olga Popova and Alexander Marrow; editing by Barbara Lewis)
