11 Mar 2010 12:51

Rosneft to honor dividend obligations

NIZHNEVARTOVSK. March 11 (Interfax) - Rosneft plans to stand by its dividend commitments, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin told reporters.

"We've made certain commitments and plan to honor them, Sechin said, when asked how much the No. 1 Russian oil producer, which he chairs, might pay its shareholders for 2009. The board has not yet made its dividend recommendation, Sechin said.

"I want to stress that the economic situation at the company is generally good. We paid higher dividends last year than for the previous year. We will do what we said," he said.

Rosneft pledged to pay 10% of its net profit to shareholders when the company held its IPO in 2006.

The company paid 1.92 rubles a share or 20.349 billion rubles in total for 2008 - 20% more than for 2007. That amounted to 14.4% of net profit for 2008, which was 141.313 billion rubles.