Sibir shares suspended after revelation

Shares in Sibir Energy, the London-listed oil company with assets in Russia, were suspended on Thursday after the company revealed that it had lent $325m (£228m) to one of its shareholders.

In a statement, Sibir admitted that Chalva Tchigirinski, a Russian tycoon who owns about 23 per cent of the shares, owed the company $210m more than the $115m that it had previously acknowledged.

Sibir is listed on Aim, the exchange for smaller companies that is more lightly regulated than London’s main market. At the latest share price of 174¾p, down 69 per cent in the past six months, its market capitalisation was £676m.