A settlement of £8.5m has been reached with two Russian companies following an investigation by the Pensions Regulator into the Carrington Wire defined benefit pension scheme.
In November 2012 the regulator issued a warning notice to three potential "targets", two of which included the companies domiciled in Russia: PAO Severstal and OAO Severstal-Metiz. Both companies owned Yorkshire-based Carrington Wire, a steel wire company that closed down in 2010.
The regulator indicated its intention to issue contribution notices in connection with the scheme.
The matter was passed to the regulator's Determination Panel in June 2014. The panel decided the regulator could use a range of powers to proceed with the case.
An oral hearing was scheduled to take place in January this year. However, before the hearing was due to take place, the Russian companies agreed to pay the sum of £8.5m to the scheme.
Stephen Soper, interim chief executive of the Pensions Regulator, said: "I am pleased that our investigation into this complex and long-running case has resulted in a realistic settlement from two businesses based overseas."
A hearing in relation to the third target is expected to take place later this year, but whatever the sum recovered the regulator said the Pension Protection Fund would still be required.
Soper said: "We will not hesitate to use our powers to protect the retirement savings of scheme members and limit calls on the PPF - including cases where the location of the businesses concerned makes recovering funds for the pension scheme more challenging."
