The Cabinet ordered Sberbank not to pay dividends for 2021

At the end of 2020, Sberbank allocated RUB 422.4 billion for dividends. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in April,

The government instructed the Ministry of Finance not to provide for the payment of dividends based on the results of 2021 on ordinary and preferred shares of Sberbank. The document is published on the portal of legal information.

The order was given "in order to ensure sustainable lending to customers and financial institutions" in Russia. A spokesman for Sberbank declined to comment.

The dividend policy of Sberbank until 2023 provides that the bank planned to allocate at least 50% of net profit under IFRS for dividends. Net profit in 2021 amounted to RUB 1.246 trillion.

The Ministry of Finance decided not to require dividends from state-owned banks

Since the spring of 2020, the controlling shareholder of Sberbank (50% plus one share) is the government.

At the end of 2020, the volume of payments to shareholders of Sberbank amounted to 422.4 billion rubles. (18.7 rubles per share).

In March, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the department was ready to adjust the dividend policy of banks to support their capital. A month later, he announced the ministry's intention to offer state-owned banks to refuse to pay dividends for 2021.

Read on RBC Pro Pro Employees steal at work:what 10 measures will help to avoid this Instructions Pro Gas supplies to the EU are falling.What will happen to the shares of "Gazprom" Forecasts Pro The company moves to a new location, and the employee refuses.What to do Instructions Pro Why CEOs of the largest companies clean toilets and eat dog food Articles ProHow goods with an “unfriendly” patent will be sold in Russia Articles Pro The risk of mass sales:will foreigners return access to Russian exchanges Articles Pro Alibaba is trading at a record low price.Should You Buy Pro Articles DoorDash Co-Founder:a great idea is not enough to start a business Articles

Sberbank came under blocking US sanctions , which also limited the bank's work in the UK. Washington froze the bank's assets and imposed a ban on Americans doing business with Sberbank, London first closed Sberbank's correspondent accounts in British banks and banned it from conducting clearing operations in pounds sterling, and then also froze the assets of a financial organization. Restrictions against Sberbank were also introduced by Japan and Canada. The European Union has not yet imposed sanctions against Sberbank, but the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, admitted that they could be taken as part of the sixth package of measures.