Official says govt no longer take Gazprom’s extra profit through MET

ST.PETERSBURG, Jun 7 (PRIME) -- The Russian government will not take Gazprom’s profit with the help of one-time changes in the mineral extraction tax (MET) anymore, Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Kolychev said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum late Thursday.

“The government will not make such decisions on one-time profit taking through the MET anymore, taking into account the fact that the dividend policy of the company is changing,” Kolychev said.

He said that Gazprom is discussing payment of 50% of the net profit in dividends.

Gazprom paid 8 rubles per share in dividends for 2017, which accounts for 26.6% of the company’s net profit under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), after that, the government charged underpaid dividends from Gazprom via the MET.

End