FTSE deletes Abramovich's Evraz from indexes amid trading crunch

By Simon Jessop

LONDON (Reuters) -Index provider FTSE Russell said on Monday it would delete four UK-listed, Russia-focused companies including Roman Abramovich's Evraz after many brokers refused to trade their shares.

Evraz along with Polymetal International, Petropavlovsk and Raven Property Group would be deleted from all FTSE's indexes during the March review, it said in a statement.

The move follows Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which it terms a 'special operation', after which Western nations imposed severe sanctions on the country, impacting many oligarchs with connections to companies based outside of Russia.

FTSE Russell said it had received feedback from its External Advisory Committees and market participants that trading in the shares was "severely restricted" as brokers refused to handle the securities, hitting market liquidity.

"Consequently, this will prevent index trackers from replicating the ongoing inclusion of these names within the FTSE Russell indices," FTSE Russell said.

Evraz and Polymetal International had been due to drop out of Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 into the FTSE 250 at the March review, but would now be replaced by NB Private Equity Partners and Standard Life Private Equity Trust, it added.

News of the deletion is the latest bad news for majority Evraz owner Ambramovich, after 10 members of the board of the steelmaker quit last week after the billionaire owner was sanctioned by Britain, triggering the suspension of its shares.

(Reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by John O'Donnell)