OREANDA-NEWS. Gazprom plans to develop a new dividend policy by the end of 2019, and in 2020, on the basis of a new policy, make payments on it. This is stated in the presentation of the company. "The dividend policy will be developed by the end of 2019. In 2020 dividends are planned to be paid based on the new policy", the document says. It will be the largest payments in the history of the company.

Adjustments of net profit will fall on non-cash items, while dividends won't be tied to the absolute values of last year. Gazprom also expects to reduce payments for the mineral extraction tax (MET) in 2020 to 484 billion rubles compared to 522 billion rubles in 2019. According to the calculations of the company, in 2021, payments for mineral extraction tax will amount to 487 billion rubles.

Earlier, the Ministry of Finance decided to abandon one-time seizures on the mineral extraction tax from Gazprom amid the company's record dividends for 2018. In previous years, in order to compensate for the dividends not received from Gazprom, the government increased the tax burden on the company - introduced a multiplying factor in calculating the mineral tax.

On May 21, the board of directors of Gazprom recommended that shareholders approve dividends for 2018 in the amount of 16.61 rubles per share at the annual meeting. These are the highest dividends in the history of the company. The slide titled “Development of a new dividend policy” identifies the following items: “Reaching the target level of 50% of Gazprom’s net profit under IFRS for three years. The dividend policy will be developed by the end of 2019. In 2020, dividends are to be paid to based on new policy. Net profit adjustments for non-monetary items. Dividends aren't tied to absolute values of last year".