Dividends of state-owned companies in Russia

Main article: Russian economy

2022: Which Russian companies became the largest payers of dividends to the budget

In 2022, 143 companies with state participation transferred almost 753 billion rubles of dividends on their shares to the federal budget. The largest payers, whose share accounted for 88 percent of the total amount, were disclosed by the Accounts Chamber in June 2023 in its report on the execution of the federal budget in the Federal Property Management Agency. The list of the largest payers of dividends to the Russian budget looks like this:

• Gazprom - 463.6 billion rubles (61.6% of revenues);
• Rosneftegaz (manages the assets of oil and gas companies: 40.4% of Rosneft, 11% of Gazprom, 26.4% of Inter RAO) - 142.8 billion rubles (19%);
• Transneft - 59.8 billion rubles (7.9%);
• RusHydro - 14.4 billion rubles (1.9%);
• Caspian Pipeline Consortium - R - about 12 billion rubles (1.6%);
• Дом.РФ - 10.4 billion rubles (1.2%);
• Zarubezhneft - 8.9 billion rubles (1.2%);
• Rostelecom - 5.7 billion rubles (0.8%);
• Bashkir Soda Company - 4.9 billion rubles (0.6%);
• Goznak - 3.2 billion rubles (0.4%);
• Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port - 2.1 billion rubles (0.3%);
• Roszarubezhneft - 1.7 billion rubles (0.2%).

Accounts Chamber revealed the largest payers of dividends to the federal budget

According to the Accounts Chamber, "the existing practice of initiating payments of interim dividends creates risks for the execution of the federal budget in the next financial year." It is predicted that in 2023 the federal budget will receive 444 billion rubles of dividends from state-owned companies.

The amounts of payments indicated in the report do not take into account dividends on public debt in Sberbank. They go to the National Welfare Fund (NWF) and are not administered by the Federal Property Management Agency.

Rosneftegaz accumulates dividends on stakes in Rosneft, Gazprom and Inter RAO. By the presidential decree of 2012, Rosneftegaz was identified among the strategic investors in the fuel and energy complex, but periodically sends money for other priority purposes (the creation of aircraft engines, the construction of power plants in the Kaliningrad region, the Far Eastern shipyard Zvezda, etc.).^[1]

2021

Dividend payment plan in the amount of 290 billion rubles

The dividend flow to the treasury in 2021 will more than halve compared to 2020 amid falling oil and gas prices, which made Russia's largest commodity corporations unprofitable for several quarters. Revenues to the budget from dividends of state-owned companies will amount to about 290 billion rubles.

Thus, according to the main directions of the budget, tax and customs-tariff policy for the current three-year period, dividends-2020 to the budget amounted to 639.5 billion rubles, which is 2.2 times higher than the amount of 2021.

Mishustin ordered all state-owned companies to send 50% of profits to dividends

The head of the Government of RFMikhail Mishustin signed an order obliging all state-owned companies to send at least 50% of profits to dividends. This was announced in mid-June 2021 by the press service of the Cabinet.

The innovation involves the use of a single standard for deductions for dividends for all state-owned companies. In addition, the authorities decided to abandon the practice of paying dividends based on unadjusted profits. When calculating the dividend base, income and expenses that are not confirmed by cash flows will not be taken into account. We are also talking about reporting items related to the revaluation of property or differences in exchange rates.

Mikhail Mishustin ordered all state-owned companies to send half of their profits to dividends

Those companies that are not required to report on the results of work under IFRS standards will have to pay in the form of dividends at least 50% of net profit according to RAS standards less:

• differences between the valuation of financial investments at current market value at the reporting date and their previous valuation;
• income and expenses related to the recognition of impairment losses on property, plant and equipment and intangible assets, as well as their write-off (except for write-offs related to the sale);
• income and expenses related to exchange rate differences.

According to the Cabinet of Ministers, traditionally dividends on shares in federal ownership go to the federal budget. It is expected that the new approach to calculating payments will make receipts to the treasury more predictable, increase the transparency of the dividend policy, and will also balance the investment activity of state-owned companies and their obligations to shareholders.

The innovation will attract more long-term, not speculative investors, said Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. This, he said, will help lay the groundwork for privatizing assets and bringing state-owned joint-stock companies to an IPO.^[2]

2018: Gazprom, Sberbank and Rosneft leaders on dividends

Dividends recommended by the Board of Directors or paid to budgets of all levels at the end of 2018, in the amount of RUB billion.

1. Gazprom 197.50

2. Sberbank 189.08

3. Rosneft 137.3

4. TATNEFT 67.16 (to the budget of Tatarstan)

5. Transneft 60.96

6. Alrosa 20.01 (10.01 to the budget of the Russian Federation, 7.58 to the budget of Yakutia, 2.42 to the budget of uluses)

7. VTB 19.57

8. RusHydro 9.56

9. Bashneft 7.06 (to the budget of Bashkortostan)

10. Inter RAO 4.95

11. Rostelecom 3.14

12. Rosseti 3.14

13. NCSP 3.02 (to the Russian budget, excluding payments to Transneft)

14. Mosenergo 2.21 (to the Moscow budget)

15. Moscow Exchange 2.06 (in favor of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation)

16. Aeroflot 1.46