Polyus Zoloto : Corporate Update

05.04.2016

Press Release

PJSC Polyus Gold

Corporate Update

PJSC Polyus Gold (MOEX - PLZL) ('Polyus Gold', the 'Company'), the largest gold producer in Russia, provides the following update regarding the further corporate development of the Polyus Gold group.

Board of Directors new composition

Polyus Gold International Limited issued a press release on 19 November 2015, in which it confirmed that going forward Polyus Gold, as a new holding company of the group, would adhere to high corporate governance and information disclosure standards.

To support this commitment, a new composition of Polyus Gold's Board of Directors ('Board') has been set forth in the new version of the Regulations on the Board of Directors, which were approved at the Company's annual general meeting of shareholders held on 5 April 2016 ('AGM'). The new Board comprises of nine members, including three representatives of the controlling shareholder (Ms. Anastasia Galochkina, Mr. Said Kerimov, and Ms. Gulnara Kerimova), three representatives of Polyus Gold group management (Mr. Pavel Grachev, CEO of Polyus Gold, Mr. Vladimir Polin, CEO of JSC Polyus (the Polyus Gold group's operating company), Mr. Mikhail Stiskin, Senior Vice President for Finance and Strategy), and three independent directors.

The following independent directors were elected to the Board: Mr. Edward Dowling, who served on the Board of Polyus Gold International Limited between 2013 and 2015 and headed its Health, Safety and Environment Committee; Mr. Kent Potter, who worked at Chevron for over 25 years, holding a variety of senior positions, before being appointed as CFO of TNK-BP. Mr Potter is currently a Board member of both EuroChem Group AG and SUEK Plc; and Mr. William Champion, who spent over 12 years at Rio Tinto, where he was responsible for the Group's diamond mining operations and Australian coal business. Mr. Champion currently sits on the Board of the Peru-based mining company, Compañía de Minas Buenaventura S.A.A.

Corporate name change

In addition, the AGM approved the new version of the Articles of Association of Polyus Gold, which included changing the Company's corporate name to PJSC Polyus. This decision was made as part of the Company's revised strategy to build an umbrella brand.

The names of the group's subsidiaries will be changed accordingly. JSC Polyus will be renamed to JSC Polyus Krasnoyarsk, JSC Pervenets - to JSC Polyus Verninskoye, JSC Aldanzoloto GRK - to JSC Polyus Aldan, JSC RiM- to JSC Polyus Magadan.

Pavel Grachev, Chief Executive Officer of Polyus Gold, commented:

'The Company is undergoing a structural transformation which will help establish a new framework of corporate governance as well as increased cooperation among the group's business units. These efforts are supported by the creation of a new brand identity. It is crucially important for us that all our employees, the local communities in which we operate, government officials and other stakeholders have a clear understanding that their partner is Polyus. The single brand name was created to help us to achieve this goal'.

Mr. Edward Dowling

Mr. Edward Dowling is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alacer Gold, where he served as President and CEO between 1998 and 2012.

His mining experience spans 30 years and includes holding the positions of Executive Director for Mining and Exploration at De Beers, President and CEO of Meridian Gold Inc., and Executive Vice President for Operations at Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.

Mr. Dowling is also the member of the Board of Directors of Teck Resources Limited. He is a former Board member of De Beers Société Anonyme, Victoria Gold Corp, Polyus Gold International Limited and Zinco de Brasil Inc.

Mr. Dowling graduated from the Pennsylvania State University in 1982 with degrees in mining engineering and mining processing. He obtained his Master's degree and PhD in mineral processing from the same university in 1987 and 1998, respectively.

Mr. Kent Potter

Mr. Kent Potter sits on the Boards of Eurochem Group AG, the leading mineral fertilizer producer in Russia, and SUEK plc, Russia's largest coal producer and exporting company.

Prior to these appointments, Mr. Potter spent 27 years with Chevron, during which he held a number of senior management positions. In 2003, Mr. Potter was appointed CFO of TNK-BP. Following TNK-BP, he was appointed Vice President and CFO of LyondellBasell Industries.

Mr. Potter was awarded a Bachelor's degree in Engineering and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mr. William Champion

Mr. William Champion serves on the Board of Compañía de Minas Buenaventura S.A.A., the largest publicly traded precious metals company in Peru.

Mr. Champion has over 30 years of experience in mining. From 2002 to 2014, he was at Rio Tinto where he held a number of senior management positions. These included Managing Director of Rio Tinto's Diamonds Business Unit and Managing Director of Rio Tinto Coal Australia.

Mr. Champion was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arizona.

Polyus Gold

Polyus Gold (www.polyusgold.com) is the largest gold producer in Russia and one of the top 10 gold miners globally by ounces produced. The Company also holds the 4th largest mineral resources base in the world.

Group's principal operations are located in Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk and Magadan regions and the Sakha Republic (Yakutia).

In 2015, the Company confirmed its status of one of the lowest-cost gold producers globally.

Link to full announcement

Enquiries:

Investor contact
Sergey Krivokhizhin, Director Investor Relations
[phone] [e-mail]

Media contact
Artem Gorbachev, Press Secretary
[phone] [e-mail]

Forward looking statement

This announcement may contain 'forward-looking statements' concerning Polyus Gold and/or Polyus Gold group. Generally, the words 'will', 'may', 'should', 'could', 'would', 'can', 'continue', 'opportunity', 'believes', 'expects', 'intends', 'anticipates', 'estimates' or similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements relating to future capital expenditures and business and management strategies and the expansion and growth of Polyus Gold's and/or Polyus Gold group's operations. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond Polyus Gold's and/or Polyus Gold group's ability to control or estimate precisely and therefore undue reliance should not be placed on such statements which speak only as at the date of this announcement. Polyus Gold and/or any Polyus Gold group company assumes no obligation in respect of, and does not intend to update, these forward-looking statements, except as required pursuant to applicable law.