TIMELINE-From boardroom battles to Ukraine war: Petropavlovsk scrambles to survive

Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk plans to file for administration after sanctions on Gazprombank, its main lender and the sole buyer of its gold, left it struggling to repay debt and made it among the first companies to face collapse due to the Ukraine war. London-listed Petropavlovsk owns one of the only two plants in Russia which extract gold and other metals from refractory ore bodies. The firm's key operating mines of Pioneer, Malomir, and Albyn and its Pokrovskiy POX Hub are located in the Amur Region in the Russian Far East.

It produced 449,800 troy ounces of gold in 2021. Here is a timeline of the company and it's past and present struggles. 1994

Peter Hambro, a British businessman with roots in a London banking dynasty, and Russian businessman Pavel Maslovskiy start Peter Hambro Mining in 2002

The company launches its IPO on London's Alternative Investment Market in 2009 Peter Hambro Mining was renamed Petropavlovsk Plc, and shares were promoted to the London Stock Exchange

2011 CEO Maslovskiy steps downs, become a Senator in Russia

2014 Maslovskiy reappointed as CEO

2017 Top shareholders seek overhaul of the board citing corporate governance failures

Maslovskiy resigns as CEO and Hambro is later ousted after rebel shareholders back nominees to replace four out of six board members New appointments include Bruce Buck, chairman of Chelsea Football Club

2018 Kazakh businessman and shareholder Kenges Rakishev January seeks reinstatement of Maslovskiy as CEO

Roman Deniskin was named CEO in February Shareholders in June voted to change management for the second time in just over a year. Denikin steps down, Maslovskiy was re-appointed as CEO; Hambro was later appointed President

2020 Shareholders remove Maslovskiy as CEO in June

Maksim Meshcheryakov named interim CEO in August Denis Alexandrov was named CEO in December

Maslovskiy was detained and charged with embezzlement of at least 95 million roubles from Petropavlovsk's Pokrovsky mine subsidiary. He is still detained and awaiting a court decision. 2022 March 21 FTSE Russell removes Petropavlovsk from its indexes in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine

March 24 Gazprombank, Petropavlovsk's main lender and the only buyer of its gold, is hit by Western sanctions

March 25 Petropavlovsk says restrictions on trading gold in Russia may make it challenging to find a buyer

Says it is unable to pay the interest due under a $200 million committed term loan with Gazprombank on March 28

Unable to pay about $9.5 million due under revolving credit facilities with Gazprombank on March 30 Looks at the potential restructuring of its debt

April 11 Appoints former CEO Deniskin as an independent non-executive director

April 14 Appoints AlixPartners UK to explore options, including a possible sale of the company and its subsidiaries

April 20 Says Gazprombank is seeking repayment of about $288 million due under the term facility

UMMC-INVEST becomes the successor agent under the term loan on April 22

Petropavlovsk applies for a new license to export gold (SOURCE: Reuters stories, other media outlets, company announcements)