Luxembourg‘s financial supervisor on Monday said it has slapped a fine of 10.000 euro on a Luxembourg subsidiary of Russian state-owned gas producer Gazprom because it was late in filing its annual report for last year.
Gaz Capital SA is fully controlled by Gazprom and held more than 13 billion euro in total assets at the end of 2021, trade data from Luxembourg shows. The firm posted its annual accounts to Luxembourg’s business register on 27 July, well beyond the deadline of three months within the close of the year.
“Gaz Capital S.A., as issuer of securities whose home Member State for the purposes of the Transparency Law is Luxembourg, published its annual financial report as of 31 December 2021 late,” the financial supervisor said in a press release on Monday. “The administrative fine amounts to EUR 10,000.”
660 million euro in income, and interest expenses
In its official filing, Gaz Capital reported neither profits or losses both for 2021 and 2020. Although it generated nearly 660 million euro in income from investments and interest, the firm also said it had to pay a similar amount in interest expenses.
According to the Luxembourg business register, accountant PWC resigned on 12 July, just a few weeks before the annual report was registered. PWC is still named as auditor in the firm’s 27 July management report.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, PWC said in March that it will stop working for foreign subsidiaries of Russian companies. “All PWC member firms outside of Russia will not undertake any work for the Russian federal government or state-owned enterprises,” the firm said on 4 July.
A spokesperson for PWC Luxembourg did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In Luxembourg since 2003
Gaz Capital has been registered in Luxembourg since 2003. The firm’s objective is to issue securities and debts to finance Gazprom. It also handles bank deposits and debt notes. Gaz Capital securities had been traded on stock exchanges in Europe as well as in the USA. The firm has issued some 50 loans in various currencies spread out over a period up to 2037.
The firm’s operations are anchored in two non-profit organisations registered as a “stichting”, an association in the Netherlands. One is registered in Amsterdam as Stichting Gaz Capital at the offices of law firm Maples, and another one as Stichting Participatie DITC Amsterdam. In recent years, both of these associations have been represented in Luxembourg via various law firms by virtue of proxy.
According to its annual report, Gaz Capital held 10.43 billion euro in fixed financial assets at the end of 2021, down from 12.36 billion. All of these amounts were held as “loans to affiliated undertakings”.
In terms of current assets, the Gazprom unit reported 2.71 billion euro for 2021, all of which were held by debtors and due as payable within one year. At the end of 2020, this amount stood at 1.96 billion euro. Cash in hand was reported at 1.21 million euro for 2021, up from 319.640 euro a year earlier.
GPB Bank International SA
Gazprom has various units registered in Luxembourg, including GPB Bank International SA. In the management report it posted on 7 April, GPB Bank addressed the international sanctions against Russia, saying that “To date, no material losses have been incurred as a result of changes to the sanctions regime” and added that it expects its financial, capital and liquidity position “will remain stable and unthreatened”.
GPB Bank has reported income of 63.1 million euro for 2021, up from 62.1 million a year earlier. The firm’s 2021 total profit amounted to 18.1 million, up from 12.6 million in 2020. GPB Bank’s annual report was audited by KPMG. Gazprom’s bank also is subject to supervision by the CSSF.
