On March 1, the ETF suspended new creations of its shares given circumstances relating to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the filing said. NYSE Arca, the fund's listing exchange, halted trading in the ETF prior to the March 4 market open, the filing said.
The ETF had assets totaling just $960,454 as of Aug. 3, according to BlackRock's website. At their peak in 2018, the fund's assets totaled more than $800 million, the spokeswoman confirmed.
On Aug. 17, BlackRock will start liquidating the ETF by distributing its current liquid assets to shareholders minus the amount of a reserve estimated to meet the fund's anticipated transaction costs tied to its liquidation, BlackRock said in a news release.
"Russia's invasion of Ukraine has prompted a range of sanctions and other capital controls that prevent BlackRock and other non-Russian investors from buying and selling Russian securities," the news release said. "As a result, (the ETF's) current holdings of Russian equity securities cannot immediately be liquidated."
BlackRock expects the ETF to remain in existence until at least Dec. 31, 2023, to enable the fund to sell the securities and depository receipts it holds, should conditions permit, the news release said. The fund, however, could be terminated sooner if all of the Russian securities and depository receipts are sold prior to that date.
"After Dec. 31, 2023, the fund may be terminated at any time, in the discretion of the fund's board of directors, even if the Russian securities and depository receipts have not been sold," the release said.
Given the uncertainty involved, "there can be no assurance that shareholders would receive any liquidating distribution relating to the Russian securities and depository receipts after the initial distribution described above," the release said.
BlackRock had $8.49 trillion in assets under management as of June 30.
