‘The fact that Bank UBS AG happens to own a portion of Concern Kalina’s stock probably means that this bank is a nominee shareholder, which is, by the way, typical of most western shareholders who have been with Kalina ever since the EBRD’s times. In case UBS AG really is a nominee shareholder, it can only benefit from the transaction by taking a commission on the services it renders to the company,’ says Accord Invest Investment and Finance Company’s Deputy GD Konstantin Selyanin.

Bank UBS AG raised the share it has in Concern Kalina’s authorized capital from the earlier 5.05% to the present 12.23%. In the meantime, Kalina did not deny the fact that UBS might actually be a nominee shareholder.

‘My other guess would be that Bank UBS could have bought the shareholding Concern Kalina had provided as a form of loan collateral. The owner of the holding might have been unable to pay the loan back, so the shares thus became the bank’s property. Given the ongoing financial crisis, this is becoming an increasingly common thing. It turns out most of Russia’s influential tycoons had pawned their assets which later had to be bought out as a loan,’ Selyanin adds.

‘Finally, there is this possibility of the bank acquiring the shareholding because of its own business interest, but this looks like the least likely option. Things of this kind hardly ever happen, since Kalina’s shares are a totally non-core asset for a bank, especially a bank like UBS,’ he notes.