Russia’s Gazprom to Pay Record High Dividends to Shareholders for 2018

Russia’s state-controlled gas giant Gazprom has said it will pay out record dividends to its shareholders on its 2018 results next month.

Russia’s Finance Ministry has been pushing for state-owned enterprises to pay out at least 50 percent of their profits as dividends, meeting stiff resistance from businesses for more than two years. Gazprom is a lynchpin of Russia’s commodity-reliant economy, with its sales accounting for more than 5 percent of the country’s $1.6 trillion annual gross domestic product.

Gazprom’s shareholders will be paid 383.2 billion rubles ($6 billion), or 27 percent of net profits, in dividends, Gazprom said after its annual shareholders meeting Friday. 

“This dividend amount is the largest in the history of the company,” the company said in a statement. 

Gazprom’s shareholders will be paid 383.2 billion rubles ($6 billion), or 27 percent of net profits, in dividends, Gazprom said after its annual shareholders meeting Friday. 

“This dividend amount is the largest in the history of the company,” the gas giant said in a statement. 

Half of Gazprom’s dividends, or 190 billion rubles ($3 billion), will go to government coffers, Russia’s RBC news website reported.

The payouts are expected to be issued next month. 

Last year, Gazprom paid 8.04 rubles per share on its 2017 profits.