Precious metals miner Polymetal on Wednesday asked its shareholders to support a plan to delist from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and to redomicile to the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) in Kazakhstan.

Polymetal is headquartered in Jersey, which Russia has listed as an “unfriendly country”, following the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February last year. The US, the UK and the EU, as well as Canada, Switzerland, Australia and Japan, have each progressively imposed sanctions on certain Russian persons, entities and sectors, which prompted Russia to adopt its own set of counter-sanction measures. Such measures include the sanctioning of persons and entities within jurisdictions on the “unfriendly countries list” under Russian law.

“The board is of the view that the redomiciliation is a necessary and critical step to preserve shareholder value. In determining that the redomiciliation to the AIFC is the preferred alternative, the principal focus of the board has been on the removal of as many Russian counter-sanction restrictions as possible, in a legal forum that offers shareholders as much similarity to the status quo as possible,” Polymetal stated.

The company has considered the Dubai International Financial Centre, the Abu Dhabi Global Market, and Hong Kong as alternatives to the AIFC.

Should the redomiciliation be approved, Polymetal will not be able to meet certain basic requirements for the ordinary shares to continue to be admitted to trading on the main market of the LSE.

The company stated that it had attempted to meet requirements, using depository interests or depositary receipts, but that it has not been successful.

Shareholders will vote on May 30.

Meanwhile, Polymetal reported gold-equivalent (GE) production of 345 000 oz for the first quarter, a decrease of 5% year-on-year.

Revenue for the quarter rose by 19% to $733-million, as sales channels stabilised with the company taking full advantage of higher gold prices while reducing its stockpiles.

“[The first quarter] saw continued metal inventory release and positive revenue dynamics. Management is optimistic that the unwinding of saleable inventory will be substantially completed by the end of the second quarter of 2023. Quarterly production was in line with our plan and we confirm our full-year guidance of 1.7-million ounces of GE,” said CEO Vitaly Nesis.

Polymetal’s share price plunged nearly 28% on Wednesday.