Vostok Gas Ltd is an investment company mainly focused on oil and gas from the former Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. The company was founded in 1996 and has its headquarters in Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

. Almost all Vostok Gas's holdings are American Depositary Receipt

American Depositary Receipt

An American depositary receipt is a negotiable security that represents the underlying securities of a non-U.S. company that trades in the US financial markets...

s (ADRs) in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

's Gazprom

Gazprom

Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...

, which makes the company owner of approximately 1.5% of Gazprom. The company is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange

Stockholm Stock Exchange

The Stockholm Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1863 it is the primary securities exchange of the Nordic Countries....

 and was a member of the OMX Stockholm 30

OMX Stockholm 30

The OMX Stockholm 30 is a stock market index for the Stockholm Stock Exchange. It is a market value-weighted index that consists of the 30 most-traded stock classes.- Composition :...

 index between July 2006 and January 2009.

At a December 2008 EGM

Extraordinary General Meeting

An extraordinary general meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an official body, which occurs at an irregular time. The term is usually used where the group would ordinarily hold an annual general meeting , but...

, shareholders approved the liquidation

Liquidation

In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...

 of the company as proposed by the company's board. The board had stated that the market volatility

Volatility (finance)

In finance, volatility is a measure for variation of price of a financial instrument over time. Historic volatility is derived from time series of past market prices...

 caused by the 2008 financial crisis had removed the attractiveness of a holding company

Holding company

A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...

 for Gazprom ADRs. During liquidation, shareholders will receive Gazprom ADRs in exchange for their Swedish Depositary Receipts

Depositary receipt

A depositary receipt is a negotiable financial instrument issued by a bank to represent a foreign company's publicly traded securities. The depositary receipt trades on a local stock exchange....

in Vostok Gas.