Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, the world's largest gas producer and key European supplier, is pushing for a 40 percent rise in dividend payments for 2004, Interfax agency quoted a company source as saying. It wants to pay 23 billion roubles ($806 million) in dividends with a dividend per share of 0.97-0.98 roubles, compared with 2003's 0.69 per share, the source said on Monday.
But business daily Vedomosti said the issue was far from decided ahead of a Gazprom board meeting due to be held on November 30 to review 2005 spending and investment plans, which have to be endorsed at a government meeting on Thursday.
It quoted an unidentified government official as saying that the 2004 dividends should be capped at the 2003 level of 16 billion roubles, which was reduced from 31 billion roubles that Gazprom initially wanted to spend on dividends.
Vedomosti said the government might rein in the company's 2005 dividend ambitions because of a projected 17.6 percent increase in 2005 operating expenses to 628.5 billion roubles.
That's short of an estimated 14 percent rise in revenues.
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