Authorities allowing dividends for subsidiaries of foreign companies if they continue to invest - Russian deputy finance minister Moiseyev

MOSCOW. Dec 19 (Interfax) - The Russian authorities will permit payment of dividends to Russian subsidiaries of foreign companies if the relevant ministries see that they continue to operate and invest fully, and the amount of payments corresponds to traditional volumes, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev said.

The deputy head of the Ministry of Finance participates in the work of the subcommittee of the Government Commission on Monitoring Foreign Investment, which considers applications for certain transactions involving nonresidents from "unfriendly" jurisdictions prohibited by the current regulations (it is headed by Finance Minister Anton Siluanov).

"As for dividends - if it is 50% of the previous period's profit and it corresponds to the dividend policy that the company pursued before, and if the relevant federal executive body confirms that the company is developing and is not 'winding things gown,' the decision is more or less automatic," Moiseyev told reporters in explaining the principle of the subcommittee in a conversation with reporters.

The subcommittee "relies heavily on the position of the relevant federal executive body. If the authority confirms that the company management is operating and continues to invest, then the dividend application will be considered positively," he said.

If the executive body sees that "they are slowly winding down and looking for a pretext to withdraw money," then the application will be rejected, Moiseyev said.