Putin Greenlights Armenian Fund to Acquire Goldman Sachs Shares in Russian Firms

On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree permitting the Armenian investment firm Balchug Capital to acquire shares in nine publicly listed companies that are part of the Russian subsidiary of Goldman Sachs.

Earlier in January, the Russian leader had already given his consent for Balchug Capital to take over Goldman Sachs’ Russian operations, which came nearly three years after the firm announced its departure from the country following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Putin’s most recent decree enables the Armenian fund to obtain shares in seven energy firms linked to Goldman Sachs International, such as Gazprom, Rosneft, and Lukoil. Additionally, it grants Balchug Capital the right to purchase shares in the Russian telecom company Rostelecom and the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant.

Since August 2022, investors from nations classified as “unfriendly” by Russia have been mandated to seek Putin’s explicit approval to trade securities within the energy and banking sectors.

In a similar move last month, Putin authorized the U.S. hedge fund 683 Capital Partners LP to acquire Russian securities from American, British, and Singaporean investment firms. In return, two Russian companies received the green light to purchase securities from 683 Capital.

Experts consulted by Russian business media suggested that this decree might be part of a broader asset exchange initiative, allowing both Russian and foreign investors to access funds that had been restricted due to sanctions.

Goldman Sachs, which had been active in the Russian market since 2009, was one of the first significant U.S. banks to announce the scaling back of its operations in Russia following the onset of the Ukraine invasion.

In 2023, a Moscow court placed a temporary freeze on $36 million of Goldman Sachs’ Russian assets due to claims that it failed to resolve a $6.3 billion debt obligation with the Russian bank Otkritie.

The following year, Goldman Sachs had its broker and dealer licenses revoked by Russia’s Central Bank.