MOSCOW, October 2 (RAPSI) – The Moscow Stock Exchange has uncovered possible manipulations with the troubled AFK Sistema stock, and forwarded the finding to the Central Bank of Russia, ITAR-TASS reports on Thursday.
AFK Sistema Group companies, Russia’s largest publicly-traded diversified holding company, lost about $6,7 billion dollars in a day following the arrest of its chairman Vladimir Yevtushenkov. At the day of the arrest, Sistema stock closed trading day with a 37% drop, with company losing $3,6 billion in capitalization. On September 19, a report surfaced that Yevtushenkov has been released. After the report, Sistema stock price rose 20%, but without an official confirmation from the investigators, the stock soaring was corrected to 5%.
Yevtushenkov, who pleaded not guilty, had been charged with money laundering in connection with the company’s acquisition of shares in the oil company Bashneft in 2009. The court ruled that he be placed under house arrest until November 16.
AFK Sistema said the charges were unfounded and that it would use all available legal options to settle the conflict.