State bank dividend policy could be eased in 2015 - Nabiullina
MOSCOW. Feb 3 (Interfax) - Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina believes it makes sense to lower the requirements on the size of the dividends that state-owned banks pay this year.
In contrast to state companies generally, banks ought to be able to pay lower dividends, because their operations depend on capital, Nabiullina said in an interview with Forbes Russia. Given that external markets are closed, unless Russia is prepared to repeatedly recapitalize the banks with taxpayer money, they must be allowed to recapitalize using earnings, she said when asked about the dividends the state banks will pay this year.
Nabiullina said the banks should be allowed to pay the minimum stipulated in their approved dividend policy. For example, she said, Sberbank of Russia and VTB have minority shareholders who need predictability in the receipt of dividend income and the banks have approved dividend policies. Those factors must be taken into account when deciding the dividends. But the dividends need not be any higher than the allowable minimum, she said.
The state banks are required to pay no less than 25% of net profit under Russian accounting standards as dividends.
At an economic forum in Sochi in September 2014, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev called for lowering the minimum dividend percentage all the way to zero. "I believe it absolutely, definitely must be lowered for the state banks. For me, this could be to zero, but this is a topic for a concrete discussion," Ulyukayev said.
State property agency Rosimushchestvo holds a diametrically opposed position. "It is better to get bank recapitalization money from the budget [rather than altering the existing system of dividend payments]," Rosimushchestvo chief Olga Dergunova said.