Watchdog seeks free foreign float for strategic firms

Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service has proposed allowing so-called "strategic companies" to float 25 percent of their shares on foreign stock exchanges without the approval of the state commission in charge of foreign investment control, FAS head Igor Artemiyev said on Wednesday. "We think that 25 percent [of shares] could be issued without the commission's approval. Over 25 percent is negative control, but it does not mean that the commission would not discuss other variants," Artemiyev told reporters. The FAS head said the idea was linked to the possible re-registration of Russia's top gold miner Polyus Gold to the UK. Polyus announced plans in October 2011 to register its parent company Polyus Gold Plc in the UK, and launched preparations to list its ordinary shares on the London Stock Exchange and be included in the FTSE 100 index. The company later had to delay its plans after a commission headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declined to approve the company's relocation to the UK.