Russia schedules auction for seized Uzhuralzoloto gold stake, valued at $1.88 billion

Russia’s property agency moved a confiscated gold producer from the courtroom to the auction block, setting a sale of a 67.2% stake in Uzhuralzoloto Group of Companies at 140.44 billion rubles, or about $1.88 billion. Rosimushchestvo said bids would be accepted through May 15 and the results announced on May 18, with the auction step fixed at 2% of the opening price, or 3.24 billion rubles. Participants were also required to post a 20% deposit of 32.4 billion rubles, a barrier that narrowed the field even before bidding began.

The transaction marked a sharper phase in Russia’s use of state power over strategic assets. What began as seizure has now become resale: a company taken from a politically exposed owner was being converted into cash through a state-managed process. For foreign and domestic owners operating in Russia, the message was blunt. Political vulnerability can now end not only in confiscation, but in a rapid transfer to a new buyer chosen under state supervision.

Uzhuralzoloto’s path to this point ran through Chelyabinsk, where a court in July 2025 ordered Konstantin Strukov’s controlling stake transferred to the state after prosecutors accused him and others of obtaining property through corruption. The ruling was not limited to the main shareholding. Related UGC assets were also covered, deepening the scope of the takeover. Russian courts later froze about $393 million at Uzhuralzoloto, showing that the legal pressure around the company did not end with the original seizure.

The scale of the asset helps explain why the sale matters beyond one mining company. Reuters-linked reporting described Uzhuralzoloto as Russia’s third-largest gold producer, a business with importance for exports, reserve management and state revenue. The company’s history also runs deep: it was founded as a Soviet enterprise in 1976, privatized in 1993 and registered as Public Joint Stock Company Uzhuralzoloto Group of Companies on June 19, 2007. UGC shares rose 8.9% after the valuation was disclosed, a sign that investors saw the auction terms as material to the company’s future ownership. The stake had also been linked to a unit of Gazprombank, underscoring how closely the market expects political power and corporate control to remain tied in Russia’s strategic sectors.