Tatneft waives moratorium on bankruptcy, retains right to pay out dividends

MOSCOW. May 11 (Interfax) - PJSC Tatneft has waived the moratorium on initiating bankruptcy proceedings based on petitions filed by creditors, according to the company's statement posted at the Fedresurs unified federal register of important information on legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.

Consequently, Tatneft will not be subject to the moratorium imposed by the resolution of the Russian government dated March 28, 2022.

As of April 1, 2022, the government has introduced a six-month moratorium on initiating bankruptcy proceedings based on petitions filed by creditors regarding legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, and citizens. An issuer must waive the moratorium in order to retain the right to pay out dividends and redeem shares via a buyback.

The company's dividend policy envisages a payment target level to shareholders of at least 50% of net income to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) or Russian Accounting Standards (RAS), whichever one is higher.

As previously reported, Tatneft boosted IFRS net profit 1.9-fold year-on-year to 198.412 billion rubles in 2021; RAS net profit increased 1.75-fold year-on-year to 142.66 billion rubles; and revenue rose 1.7-fold year-on-year to a record 1.069 trillion rubles in the reporting period.