How to convert Gazprom ADRs and other Russian DRs to local shares

Posted By: Yinon Arieli May 16, 2022

According to the Russian administration’s decision in April, all shares of Russian companies traded on stock exchanges outside the US must be delisted. The deadline for that seems to be August 3rd, thus if you want to keep your shares you must transfer them to a Russian broker.

If you bought Gazprom at $2.85 per share as I did, your return is currently 166% 300% as the Moscow share is traded a 244 299.5 rubles, equivalent to a share price of $7.6 $11.2 (each unit traded in the US or London is equivalent to 2 units traded in Moscow). Thus, it is worth the effort.

* Update: August 15, 2022 *

According to Gazprom announcement, DR holders can now request a mandatory conversion of their DRs to common shares that will be traded in Moscow. The shares will be stored in a Russian account in Gazprombank that will be opened only for this purpose.

All the details and the forms can be found in this FAQ letter and in Gazprombank site.

Keep in mind that you or a representative of you must submit the paperwork by hand at Gazprombank office in Moscow before October 11, 2022. The actual shares will be given to you on October 25, 2022, if you completed the submission before the deadline.

There are a couple of Russian lawyers that can handle that process for you, but their retainer is above $5,000, which is probably costly for most of you.

If you don’t convert your shares before the deadline, they will not vanish. BNY Mellon will try to sell it for you on August 2023, but it’s not guaranteed to work or it can be worth pennies.

I’ll post more updates if anything changes.

* Update: July 15, 2022 *

Russia adopts a draft law allowing DR conversion without the need for a Russian broker or bank account. This means that your broker will probably be able to convert your DRs to common shares inside your account.

See the details here.

Israeli banks are already allowing this conversion and I hope other brokers around the world will allow it as well in the near future. Interactive brokers allow conversion of a few Russian DRs and I hope they’ll allow conversation of Gazprom DRs soon as well.

I suggest that you send your broker this information and ask him about this issue.

* Update: Jun 28, 2022 *

After a long discussion with a Russian law firm that managed to convert Gazprom ADRs into common shares traded in Moscow, I understood that it’s currently better to keep Gazprom DRs and ADRs in your own broker account and not transfer them to Gazprombank.

This is because the Gazprombank account is a limited account, and in order to sell the shares and transfer the money to your bank account you need a regular Russian bank/broker account, which is currently very hard to open.

In addition, money from Russia can only be transferred to “friendly countries”, and the US and Europe are not such countries.

However, according to BNY Mellon publication, the deadline for converting the ADRs to common shares is at least until August 3, 2023. Until then let’s hope that the Ukrain war will end and the sanctions on Russia will end too, and we will be able to convert the ADRs easily.

Keep in mind that this is my decision that is based on my understanding of the situation, and I could be wrong, so do what you think is right.

* * *

How to convert the ADRs to local shares traded on the Moscow stock exchange?

All the details are in Gazprom’s publication here (in Russian, translated into English with Google):

https://www.gazprombank.ru/docs/drcancellation/

(You can download a PDF version of the above page from this link if the website doesn’t load)

Please note: I am not a legal expert, I do not know in depth the details of the sanctions on Russia, so the things I am writing here are based on my personal understanding of Gazprom’s publication. I recommend that you read things carefully before submitting the forms.

Step 1: Open a Russian account to transfer the shares to

Assuming you are not a Russian citizen and do not have a bank account in Russia, the next step is to open a sort of dedicated account only for storing the shares in Gazprom’s bank (yes, Gazprom also has a bank…). This is called a depo account of type C.

To do this, fill in one of the following questionnaires:

Questionnaire 1 if your trading account is a private account.

Questionnaire 2 If your trading account is registered under a company name.

US citizens should also fill out this W-9 form.

and send it to Gazprombank to this email address:

depo@gazprombank.ru

After the account is opened and you get the account number you can move on to the third and final step.

Step 2: Contact your broker and ask to transfer the ADRs to you Gazprombank account

Contact your broker that currently hold the Gazprom shares for you and ask him to submit a request to transfer your units to the Russian Depository Trust Company (DTC) to an account with the following details:

Member number: 2504

Account number: 016201

Operation type: FOP

Step 3: Contact the custodian and ask him to convert the ADRs to common shares

Send the following two forms to BNY Mellon (the custodian of Gazprom ADRs) at the email address after you have filled in your details in the required places DRsettlements@bnymellon.com :

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

In Appendix 2, fill in the following details:

Russian Issuer: Gazprom OGZD for London ADRs or Gazprom OGZPY for US ADRs.

DRs Canceled: the number of units that you hold in your account

DR ISIN / CUSIP: in London US3682871088, in USA US3682872078

Executing bank / broker-dealer: The name of your broker

Account receiving Shares in Russia: Write down the account number you received at Gazprom Bank

Date: the settlement date for converting the ADRs.

I will keep you updated if there are any new developments.

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82 Comments on "How to convert Gazprom ADRs and other Russian DRs to local shares"

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  1. marcobaruzzi0 May 21, 2022 |
    Very helpful article, but can Gazprombank receive other Russian ADRs, or Gazprom ADR is the only one that can be transferred?
    • Yinon Arieli May 21, 2022 |
      I think they can, but you’ll have to ask them directly.
      • kaczyleb007 May 26, 2022 |
        I am preparing to do this operation. One thing I do not understand actually two. 1) “Russian Depository Trust Company” If all people sent thier ADR to this one specific account number 016201 how they would know that there is specific amount of units thats belong to me? 2. BNY Mellon in thier published letter regarding termination of Gazprom ADR only mention OGZPY not OGZD. Would it work for OGZD too?
        • Yinon Arieli May 26, 2022 |
          1. They have the name of the holder, thus know who its belong to. 2. Yes it will work for the US ADR as well, but you have to mention it in the forms.
    • kaczyleb007 May 26, 2022 |
      No, It is explicity written you can transfer only gazprom shares.
      • marcobaruzzi0 May 26, 2022 |
        I just opened a type C account and I can only transfer Gazprom shares. However, there is an additional process (that would require a local Russian lawyer) to “upgrade” the account and make it able to receive all the Russian ADRs.
        • mail July 27, 2022 |
          After opening my account I’ve got the same documents. At it is currently not very feasable to travel to Moscow (Flight tickets are about 2000$ + all the trouble…) I would like to “upgrade” the account via a lawyer. Did you already make progress on that? I tried to google about a lawyer who would do this, but to no avail (until now).
    • kaczyleb007 May 26, 2022 |
      To be more specific: Please note that only shares of PJSC Gazprom obtained in a result of the conversion of depositary receipts can be credited to the owner’s type “C” securities account opened in a simplified procedure, other shares can be credited to this account only after passing identification in accordance with the requirements of the Legislation of the Russian Federation on AML/CFT.
    • dwerkema June 9, 2022 |
      After creating a Type “C” account and converting OGZPY shares you will be able to credit other ADR shares to the account, but what you can do once they’re there is anyone’s guess. There’s a 6/6/22 post under thomascresh from Gazprom Bank with the details: https://stocktwits.com/symbol/GAZPROM
      • dwerkema June 9, 2022 |
        Correction- the thomascresh 6/6/22 post with Gazprom Bank conversion details is in the comments for the post on the $LUKOY link: https://stocktwits.com/symbol/LUKOY
  2. boiler84 May 26, 2022 |
    The links in the above article do not work for me. Do I need to use a VPN?
    • Yinon Arieli May 26, 2022 |
      It works fine for me. Check that your web browser doesn’t block it. In any case, I insert a link to download a PDF version of the page.
    • kaczyleb007 May 27, 2022 |
      Those may not work becasue of censorship in the west russian web sites. In Poland for example you can’t visit even gazprom.com not saying rt.com etc.. You can use VPN or it is easier to use webproxy like https://proxyscrape.com/web-proxy
    • boiler84 May 27, 2022 |
      The links would not work from my home computer or my work computer (I am in the US). I downloaded and installed ProtonVPN (free) and connected to a server in Japan. The links then worked fine.
  3. whisker-click0l June 3, 2022 |
    Trying to go through this; apparently the questionnaire form has been updated, and I am waiting for a Gazprombank representative to point me to the correct form – it should be one from here (https://www.gazprombank.ru/en/personal/depository/#basic-4845473) but not completely sure which one. Has anyone gone through the “upgrade” in order to deposit shares from other cancelled ADRs (Lukoil in my case)? Or other venues where shares from cancelled (Lukoil) ADRs may be deposited?
    • Yinon Arieli June 3, 2022 |
      I uploaded the new questionnaire form that Gazprombank is asking for. See it in the text.
      • kaczyleb007 June 3, 2022 |
        I am from Europe using “Exante” brooker. Looks it is not possible to transfer ADR as they are saying that BNY Mellon account would need to be on my name or they could loose the license.
        • Yinon Arieli June 3, 2022 |
          BNY Mellon is just the custodian of the ADRs, thus the transfer of the ADRs is between your broker and the Russian bank that receives the shares. So I see no problem with this transaction. But, you can ask BNY Mellon about it.
          • dkonash June 7, 2022
            Hi Yinon, very useful post, thanks! Have you submitted these two forms to BNY Mellon via email and have they actually responded to you? How much time did it take them to come back?
          • Yinon Arieli June 7, 2022
            Until now no broker has successfully transferred the shares to a Russian broker/bank, but they are working on a solution for this issue. Let’s hope it will work eventually.
          • kaczyleb007 June 7, 2022
            ADRs are required ti be transfered to BNY Mellon. Then BNY Mellon is transfering local shares that they keep in thier deposit to russian bank.
    • dwerkema June 9, 2022 |
      Link to the Gazprom Bank forms: https://ufile.io/f/xo50f Note that if you’re a US citizen you’ll have to include a W-9. Email completed forms to: depo@gazprombank.ru I just sent mine today, but have seen other posters who have their accounts.
  4. 171885387 June 7, 2022 |
    Had anyone actually converted the GAZPROM ADR to ordinary shares? I know there’s cases which successfully converted the SBRCY ADR to ordinary shares
  5. boiler84 June 7, 2022 |
    Is there a deadline for converting ADRs to shares? What happens if the ADRs are not converted? I would think that the big institutional holders of Russian shares will figure out a way to mitigate their losses. 401k’s and IRA’s are likely stuffed with Russian shares.
    • Yinon Arieli June 7, 2022 |
      The ADRs will be delisted on August 3rd 2022 if not converted to common shares.
      • 171885387 June 8, 2022 |
        What’s the consequence after the ADR is canceled?
        • Yinon Arieli June 9, 2022 |
          They might still appear in your account but they can’t be sold anymore.
          • 171885387 June 9, 2022
            Until end of the war?
          • Yinon Arieli June 9, 2022
            No. They will be delisted and cannot be sold anymore.
      • dwerkema June 10, 2022 |
        Russian ADRs don’t all have the same termination date. $OGZPY ADRs will be terminated August 3rd. $LUKOY ADRs will terminate on December 30th.
  6. dwerkema June 10, 2022 |
    Thanks Yinon for posting this very useful information. I just spoke with a BNY Mellon rep- Charlene, who was very helpful. As the OGZPY depositary they can process the conversion/transfer for shares held by any broker so you can bypass step 2 in your initial post and, once you establish a Gazprom Bank Type “C” account, start by either: A) calling BNY Mellon 888-269-2377 and telling them to send an email to their conversion department to request to convert your ADRs, or B) emailing their conversion dept. directly with the email you posted. If initiated by BNY Mellon, their conversion dept. will email you to obtain details about the account(s) where ADRs are held as you indicated. BNY Mellon will first convert the ADRs and then transfer the Russian shares to your Gazprom Bank account. Since both brokers holding my ADRs (Schwab and Merrill) seem clueless, I will feel better taking them out of the picture.
    • Yinon Arieli June 10, 2022 |
      Thank you for this important information.
    • kaczyleb007 June 10, 2022 |
      Exellent info! Thank you do much. Conversion departament email you mean DRsettlements@bnymellon.com?
    • 171885387 June 14, 2022 |
      may i know if you have completed the conversion?
      • Yinon Arieli June 14, 2022 |
        not yet. It’s still pending
    • 171885387 June 14, 2022 |
      If the brokers are clueless, how could you complete the conversion?
    • kaczyleb007 June 17, 2022 |
      I did “B) emailing their conversion dept. directly with the email you posted.” Got answer like this: in order to surrender your Russian DRs for the receipt of the underlying Russian shares, you will need to ask your broker to arrange to have the DRs presented to BNY Mellon along with valid delivery instructions for the Russian securities. Importantly, you will need a securities account or broker willing to accept the Russian shares. In addition, the attestation (link below) confirming that there will be no change in beneficial ownership will be required under rules set in place by the Central Bank of Russia. You should be aware that there may also be restrictions applicable to your holdings of Russian shares, which you should discuss with the brokerage firm established to accept the Russian shares. https://www.adrbnymellon.com/files/al996947.pdf You should be consulting with your broker / clearer. Should your broker have questions, I would encourage him/her to reach out to the contact details provided in the notice provided here: https://www.adrbnymellon.com/files/al991925.pdf Cancellation fees are $5.00 per 100 DRs plus a cable fee of $17.50 for each instruction. Further updates can be found at on our website at http://www.adrbnymellon.com. Finally, there is not a great amount of additional guidance we can provide to individual investors. Your broker must play a role in any efforts to surrender your DRs and is it important that future queries be addressed from your broker to the contacts listed in the Notice provided in the above link. In addition to the above, Please refer to this general cancellation process for DTC eligible ADRs: 1)Deliver the DRs via DTC to BNY Mellon DR DTC account 2504. Indicate in the comment field, “See email instructions” OR please note that we can also accept any instructions (see “e” below) that have been sent in the comment field with the DTC shares. BNY Mellon will then charge an applicable cancelation fee (please contact adrdesk@bnymellon.com for more information regarding fees) 2) Create delivery instructions on company letterhead to send as a PDF attachment and include the following information: a) Security Name b) CUSIP Number c) Settlement Date d) Number of DRs e) Institution where the ordinary shares will be delivered to in the local market (name and BIC of bank or appropriate local delivery code, beneficiary name and beneficiary account number). 3) Email the instructions in the form of a PDF attachment from a group email address where at least one other person is copied on the email to DRinstructions@bnymellon.com. Please note that we are not able to accept instruction in the body of the email. The email/pdf must be sent to us by the broker we are receiving the DRs from, and BNYM may need to perform an authentication callback back to that broker in order to validate the instructions. 4) After BNY Mellon DRs receives the DRs, valid instructions and fee payment, it will instruct its custodian to deliver the ordinary shares. Ensure that your custodian is set up to accept delivery of the ordinary shares from the below SSI’s: Our local account details are as follows :- RAIFEISSEN RZBM RZBMRUMMXXX *** GAZPROM ONLY *** ML1302070023/DR000000000000000 NSDR/MC009800000 *** ALL OTHERS *** ML9801290070/DR000000000000000 NSDR/MC0054300000 PSET : NADCRUMMXXX Paying by Fedwire: (amounts over 500,000 DRs) FED WIRE PAYMENTS TO REMIT: Bank Name: The Bank of New York Mellon ABA: 021000018 Beneficiary Name: BNY Mellon Depositary Receipts Beneficiary A/C : GLA111594 DR Business Attn: DR SETTLEMENTS Ref: ADR Fees for RU CANC /NAME OF PROGRAM/ AMOUNT OF DRS BIC: IRVTUS3NADR We can also accept payment via DTC SPO Regards, Anthony Garvey BNY Mellon Intermediate Representative|Operations | Depository Receipts Operations 6023 Airport Road Oriskany, NY 13424
      • Yinon Arieli June 17, 2022 |
        Thank you fir this is important information. Indeed, your broker needs to send the transfer application to bny mellon.
  8. 171885387 June 20, 2022 |
    Converting depositary receipts to be possible without appealing to foreign infrastructure – Central Bank MOSCOW. June 15 (Interfax) – The holders of depositary receipts that have been blocked from conversion owing to sanctions restrictions will be able to convert their receipts through a Russian depository without needing to appeal for operations with a foreign infrastructure; and the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has participated in drafting amendments to the federal law on terminating programs of depositary receipts, the regulator’s press service has told Interfax. The amendments envisage a special procedure for converting depositary receipts into Russian shares for owners who could not use the mechanisms of the depositary agreement, the press service specified. “In cases of converting with a sanction element on the part of the issuer or the owner, a declarative procedure for converting through a Russian depository is provided without the need to appeal for operations to foreign infrastructures,” the press service answered in response to an Interfax inquiry. According to the CBR, automatic conversion will be provided without appealing to foreign nominal holders for those owners whose rights are recorded in Russian depositories. The CBR stressed that the amendments have been drafted in order to prevent investors from losing their investments.
  9. julien971 June 22, 2022 |
    I’ve opened the type C account in Gazprombank. Then, I’ve contacted BNY Mellon by phone who told me that I needed to check the transfer with my Broker. I’ve contacted Interactive Broker who answered me they can’t transfer my ADRs to Gazprom Bank as there are some sanctions. Hence as of today I have no ways to transfer my shares.
    • Yinon Arieli June 22, 2022 |
      IB is working on solving this issue and will update all customers when its doable.
      • julien971 June 22, 2022 |
        Thanks, I hope they’ll solve it before Aug 3rd!
  10. Menamet31 June 22, 2022 |
    Is anyone dealing with hargreaves lansdown? Can’t get anything meaningful from them. Does anyone have text with initial explanation/request which we could use as a template to explain what’s required?
    • 69misst June 26, 2022 |
      I’m just about to attempt the same thing with Hargreaves landsdown so please keep posting how you get on. I have a feeling it’s not going to go well considering it’s a large firm and prob not used to this kind of enquiry, and reluctant because of the Russian sentiment at the moment.
      • Yinon Arieli June 27, 2022 |
        The same procedure can be done to all Russian stocks. You just have to find a Russian broker to transfer the shares to.
      • Menamet31 July 13, 2022 |
        How is your experience with HL so far? I opened Russian account but HL is not helpful at all
        • Yinon Arieli July 13, 2022 |
          What do mean by “HL”?
  11. forlifebetter June 27, 2022 |
    it has been 3 days since i applied for bank account of C type. no news till now. should i have to wait more ??? didnt hear anything like that complete application.
    • Yinon Arieli June 27, 2022 |
      It takes 7-14 days on average before they open the account.
  12. dkonash June 27, 2022 |
    Has anyone here actually succeeded in converting Gazprom ADRs to local shares? It feels like after the new EU sanctions introduced at the beginning of June the conversion process through BNY Mellon described here doesn’t work anymore. Or I am missing some recent developments in this area?
  13. i believe i can gazprom June 28, 2022 |
    It has Stopped Open the Account . bcos of sanction. even though Open account , can not convert DR…. too sad. bank said : stopped open account
  14. dwerkema June 30, 2022 |
    Thanks for the update to your post Yinon. I received confirmation from Gazprombank that my Type C account is open. As you indicated, it has limited transactions, but my concern is what happens if I don’t convert. The ADR termination notice from BNY Mellon is very vague about what happens if shares aren’t converted: “Subsequent to August 3, 2023 under the terms of the Deposit Agreement, the Depositary may attempt to sell the underlying shares. If the Depositary has sold such shares, you must surrender your ADRs to obtain payment of the sale proceeds, net of the expenses of sale, any applicable U.S. or local taxes or government charges and a cancellation fee of up to $0.05 per ADR. Please be advised that, due to restrictions introduced by the Central Bank of Russia, non-Russian persons are currently prohibited, for an indefinite period of time, from undertaking a sale of the Company’s ordinary shares. Accordingly, the Depositary may not be able to sell or receive any value for the underlying shares.” The last sentence worries me. I’m going to put all the pieces in place for the conversion, but will wait until just before August 3 to pull the trigger.
  15. 171885387 July 7, 2022 |
    my broker is a sub-broker of IB, and we can convert OGZPY to ordinary Russian shares now, with a big sum of transaction fee…… i can’t help wondering is it really worth the transaction fee? i still cant trade after ADR converted to ordinary shares…
  16. marcobaruzzi0 July 19, 2022 |
    In case anyone missed this: https://www.clearstream.com/clearstream-en/products-and-services/settlement/a22079-3114440 Clearstream is allowing conversions without fees (?)
    • Yinon Arieli July 19, 2022 |
      Right. It’s good news but keep in mind that you still can’t sell the shares after the conversion.
  17. kuzhinsk July 20, 2022 |
    Thank you for all the info. For appendix 1, do I have to provide my passport details? Which passport? What should be the subject of the email sent to DRinstructions@bnymellon.com? Should the first appendix also be attached to the same email? My broker is E-trade. Has anyone had success with having them transfer Gazprom ADRs to BNY Mellon and then to a Russian account? Thanks in advance.
    • Yinon Arieli July 20, 2022 |
      Yes, you can use your passport number for identification. I suggest you contact your broker and he’ll submit all the necessary documents to BNY mellon.
    • Yinon Arieli July 22, 2022 |
      Yes, I know of at least one investor that succeeded in transferring his shares to Gazprombank. They send you a message when the shares are in the account.
  18. dwerkema July 21, 2022 |
    Goalposts keep moving for conversion. Russia passed a law a week ago specifying an allowable process that resulted in BNY Mellon posting this: https://www.adrbnymellon.com/files/al1009442.pdf So it’s looking like the process starts with contacting BNY Mellon and asking them to start the conversion. Then you will set up an account with Raiffesein Bank, a member of Mellon’s custodian network as shown on this link: https://www.adrbnymellon.com/resources/dr-tools/custodian-network#R. Then the shares can be converted and transferred, at least that’s the theory. Just starting it now and will report any progress, or lack. I had a Gazprombank Type C account, but the identification requirements stopped the process so this looks like the only alternative.
  19. ewoook July 24, 2022 |
    so as of a few days ago with IBKR notice saying its not possible to convert what is the best course of action. do i open a GPB account? as far as i know its BNY mellon that is doing the cancelling and making the shares go to your GPB account – interactive brokers is just “surrendering” to the custodian (BNY) and “sending” (not really sending as they dont have them in the first place) the ADRs to GPB- the shares themselves are already in Russia with Raifaissen/GPB ???
  20. ewoook July 24, 2022 |
    have sberbank which ibkr converted … polyus which i have no info for but its a BNY/Raifaissen ADR, Magnit where Jpmorgan is the custodian -was told to contact JPmorgan russia as to next steps, and the OGZPY which i still don’t know what to do with. , or the alternative is just to do nothing but this seems like a bad idea for various reasons – our governments (western) have literally gone lunatic so i would feel more comfortable if these holdings are outside the western financial system entirely. I do not mind travelling at some point there for identification but even that will be long process because as a canadian or EU citizen you need visa and then ya the whole thing is complicated …
  21. boiler84 July 24, 2022 |
    Received the following from Fidelity regarding Gazprom shares: The Bank of New York Mellon, as depositary, has received notice from PJSC Gazprom of termination of the Deposit Agreement, dated October 25, 1996, and amended and restated on April 17, 2006 among the Company, the Depositary, and Owners and Holders of ADRs. As a result, the existing ADR facility will be terminated effective at 5:00 PM (Eastern Time) on August 3, 2022Under the terms of the Deposit Agreement, you have until at least July 21,2023, to surrender your ADRs for delivery of the underlying shares. If you surrender ADRs for delivery of the underlying shares, you must pay a cancellation fee of up to $0.05 per ADR surrendered and any applicable U.S. or local taxes or governmental charges. Each one (1) ADR is convertible into two (2) underlying ordinary shares, ISIN RU0007661625. Please be advised that as a condition to exchange, due to requirements in Russia, investors surrendering ADRs for delivery of underlying shares must attest that there is no change in beneficial ownership resulting from the surrender of ADRs and receipt of underlying shares, and that the beneficial owner of the ADRs was the beneficial owner as of April 27, 2022. Subsequent to August 3, 2023 under the terms of the Deposit Agreement, the Depositary may attempt to sell the underlying shares. If the Depositary has sold such shares, you must surrender your ADRs to obtain payment of the sale proceeds, net of the expenses of sale, any applicable U.S. or local taxes or government charges and a cancellation fee of up to $0.05 per ADR. Please be advised that, due to restrictions introduced by the Central Bank of Russia, non-Russian persons are currently prohibited, for an indefinite period of time, from undertaking a sale of the Company’s ordinary shares. Accordingly, the Depositary may not be able to sell or receive any value for the underlying shares. In consideration of the fluidity of this situation, the information contained herein is subject to change. The Depositary continues to closely monitor the situation and will publish revised information as and when necessary. If you choose to cancel your ADRs and receive ordinary shares, U.S. sanctions still apply, and holders WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SELL OR TRANSFER those shares indefinitely. Additionally, due to restrictions from the Central Bank of Russia, non-Russians are prohibited from undertaking a sale of the Company’s ordinary shares. NOTE: The conversion of these ADRs is a two-step process whereby ADR shares are delivered to the DR agent in the US, and then receipt of the underlying shares is taken in Russia. National Financial Services LLC cannot guarantee the receipt of the underlying shares, recovery of the shares, or refunding of any fees. All conversion requests will be processed on a best efforts basis. Due to evolving situation, it is possible that depositary receipt conversion requests may be impacted before the stated conversion deadline. What does this mean for you? Because a corporate action may materially change a company’s structure, it potentially affects their financial situation, stock price, and stock performance — and possibly your investment mix, so it’s important to carefully review all the outlined terms. Next steps: If you’d like to participate, please call 800-343-3548 on or before 07/20/23. To view current summarized offer terms and other helpful information regarding this event, visit Fidelity.com/CorporateActions. Thank you for being a valued customer. Sincerely, Fidelity Investments
    • Yinon Arieli July 25, 2022 |
      It seems that there is still great uncertainty in the conversion process, but fortunately, the deadline is August 3rd, 2023 so we and the brokers have enough time to succeed in the process.
  22. samimijuilie6733 July 29, 2022 |
    Im with IB and I own Lukoy and mgnt. With IB stopping conversion in ruble, do someone know how can I convert those shares ? Does a C type account work for those shares ?
    • Yinon Arieli July 29, 2022 |
      Yes, a C-type account work for Russian shares. However, keep in mind that you won’t be able to sell the shares from this account.
  23. kuzhinsk August 3, 2022 |
    Has anyone had an American broker successfully transfer Gazprom ADRs to BNY Mellon and then had BNY Mellon transfer converted shares to a Russian account? What type of transfer should my broker, E-trade, do, a DWAC transfer? Any info would be appreciated.
    • Yinon Arieli August 3, 2022 |
      I know of someone with E-trade account that succeeded in transferring his shares to gazprom bank. He used the procedure and forms I described in this post.
  24. samimijuilie6733 August 15, 2022 |
    Hello, I opened a type C account with your advice but I can only transfert gazprom adr but no other security like mgnt, lukoy, ect. I have to do a verification process. I don’t really know how to complete this verification process. Does someone know something about this verification process to upgrade the account for receiving other adr. Thank you.
  25. samimijuilie6733 August 19, 2022 |
    What do you think about simply waiting for the depositary bank to cash out on adr,gdr? I have a ton of russian stock and I cant open a upgraded type C account. I have no way of converting them. I dont know how much time the depositary bank will take to sell the shares and during this time I will not receive any dividends.
    • Yinon Arieli August 20, 2022 |
      In a C-type account, you can only store the shares, not sell them, thus, in my opinion, at this point, it’s better to keep the ADRs in your broker account and wait for a possibility to convert them to common shares in your account. It’s already possible with some brokers (for ex. Israeli banks).
      • samimijuilie6733 August 20, 2022 |
        Im with Interactive Broker and they dont accept security in rouble anymore so they will not convert any of my shares. Which broker can convert them ?
        • Yinon Arieli August 20, 2022 |
          Currently I only know of Israeli brokers, but I guess that in time US/European brokers will also allow it.
  26. kuzhinsk August 26, 2022 |
    Julien971 or anyone else who successfully transferred Gazprom ADRs to a Gazprom Bank account in Russia:Did your broker do a DWAC transfer to BNY Mellon first? And did BNY Mellon then transfer the converted shares to your Gazprom Bank account? Or did you follow different steps? If do, what were the steps? Thank you in advance. I emailed the appendix forms to BNY Mellon, but haven’t received a reply. Thank you in advance.
  27. marboch September 7, 2022 |
    Citi bank and Bny Mellon have both closed the books for the Russian ADR normal Conversion route as of September 3rd. I was able to successfully convert almost all of my shares before the deadline. But it took hiring an attorney on the ground in Kazakhstan to physically go into Gazprombank’s office and file the paperwork in person. As of September 3rd, even this is no longer an option. Your US broker will not be able to successfully initiate the conversion even if you have opened a Russian type-C account to receive the shares. The only remaining option is forced conversion by going straight to the Russian depository that is the counterparty to BNY Mellon and Citibank. Forced conversion is difficult as the Russian intermediaries keep changing the rules each week. My attorney suggests everyone start collecting evidence for the forced conversion immediately. If you do not force convert your ADRs by the deadline it will likely be impossible to maintain your ownership in the underlying Russian company. The books cannot functionally be opened for normal conversion again after October 26th because the US depositories will not be able to confirm the ADRs are backed by local shares. Since the depository agreement that governs the ADR is broken, the rectification of the ledger is functionally impossible. DO NOT just sit and hope that everything will work out in the end. Get your forced conversion application in ASAP.
    • Yinon Arieli September 8, 2022 |
      Thank you for the important update. There is some uncertainty regarding the deadlines for the conversions, so I think every Russian ADR holder should consult his broker regarding this issue.
      • simone.fabris September 13, 2022 |
        Apologies for joining this conversation so late. Apparently, everything is blocked since last week. My Depository refuses to transfer my shares to GPB. However, they would transfer any other Russian share I hold If I want to (?) I tried contacting GPB and sending the form for opening an account but they do not answer anymore. It looks like nobody knows what is going on or at least they do not want to share it with me. Is anybody able to clarify if the deadline to lose everything is October 11th as mentioned by Gazprom or August, 3rd 2023 as mentioned by BNY? Was any other able to perform the conversion successfully?
    • longrunplan.com-220913 September 13, 2022 |
      I picked this topic only yesterday. What do you mean by “forced conversion”? How to do it? What do you mean by “start collecting evidence for the forced conversion”? Much appreciate any hints
      • Yinon Arieli September 13, 2022 |
        Ill post an update about it tomorrow.
  28. kuzhinsk September 16, 2022 |
    From the forced conversion form:4.1 Information about the Foreign Entity and parent organizations registering the rights to Depositary Receipts:  the names of foreign entities participating in the chain,  their licenses/permit numbers,  link to the official web-site of the authorized body that issued the license (permit) or included the Foreign Entity (registering the rights to Depositary Receipts) in the list (register) of the organizations authorized to register and transfer the rights to securities,  email of the Foreign Entities  the Holder’s name Questions: Does the chain include only BNY Mellon and my broker? What is the license/permit number that they are referring to? Who issued the license to the broker in the US?
  29. kuzhinsk September 17, 2022 |
    As far as the “forced conversion,” you can find information about it on gazprom.com/investors. For some reason the site is not loading on my laptop, but it does load on a smartphone. There are instructions in English and Russian, and the deadline is October 11th. I think you have to submit the documents in-person at Gazprombank in Moscow, but there may be another way to do it that I am unaware of.