Big investors and corporate shareholders often opt to sell a chunk of shares in an accelerated placement after markets close. These transactions are typically underwritten by banks, who buy the stake and offer it on the open market and take on the risk of the disposal.

the crippling international sanctions are making Russian assets financially unattractive, even at steep discounts, meaning that Chinese investors may not want to risk the political headache

"Institutional buyers, especially with ESG or sanction-related restrictions likely won't be able to buy and have no intention to do so"... There may be some buyers from small hedge funds or family offices, where time horizons are long enough

Stock trading on the [Russian] bourse was canceled... This means buying global depositary receipts of Russian stocks being traded on exchanges such as [NYSE, LSE, NASDQ] has also become prohibitively expensive for Moscow-based portfolio managers

"For now, a very hefty writedown is likely to remain the main course of action"