Rusal says its board approves domicile change from Britain to Russia

Russia’s sanctions-hit aluminium giant Rusal (0486.HK) declared on Friday, August 17, that its board had approved a change of domicile from Britain’s Jersey to Russia for taking some advantage of new special tax regulations.

The announcement arrived a day after Russian energy-related company En+ Group announced that it was considering re-domiciling to one of Russia’s new offshore zones.

However, Rusal’s decision to change domicile can only come off if shareholders also give consent to it.

Russia has created two special administrative regions where companies enjoy benefits such as a zero tax on profits received by way of dividends - an arrangement similar to foreign offshore tax havens.

The company said its board member had decided to change the domicile because they thought that it could bring in the best interest of the company and shareholders as a whole.

Shares in Hong Kong listed Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium producing company outside China, has been showing bearish sentiment down by 54 percent, since the time hit by the US sanctions on April 6.