Yandex NV VimpelCom Ltd.: Moscow

Moscow: This is a question of economic security, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told reporters after a government meeting near Moscow today. Speaking later in a telephone interview, he said the move isnt mandatory and that companies should make independent decisions, according to Bloomberg. Companies including Yandex NV VimpelCom Ltd. and Mail.ru Group Ltd. are only traded on exchanges abroad while OAO Lukoil, OAO Gazprom and OAO Sberbank, among others, have shares listed in Moscow and London. The Micex rose 0.2 percent at 1,352.33 in Moscow, and has lost 6.4 percent since Feb. 28. The index of the biggest Russian stocks traded in New York gained 0.9 percent at 1:28 p.m. in New York and the Russia Depositary Index of London shares fell 0.2 percent. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/ Russia urged companies to delist their shares from overseas stock exchanges and trade in Moscow in an effort to safeguard them as international sanctions mount against the country after its takeover of Crimea. The U.S. and Europe are threatening to step up economic sanctions against Russia following President Vladimir Putins move to annex Crimea from Ukraine last month. Higher borrowing costs led the government to scrap ruble-bond auctions in five of the last six weeks. Since the incursion into the Black Sea peninsula on March 1, investors turned to offshore equity trading, with U.K. volume growing faster than in Moscow. Full coverage of the Ukraine Crisis : Ukraine Mounts Security Push as Russia Warns on Civil War Putin Stirs Azeri Angst That Russia Is Set to Extend Sway Russia Detains 25 Ukrainians Suspected of Plotting Terror (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.