The Russian Ministry of Finance came forward with an initiative directed to government con­trolled companies in Russia that would obligate these entities to pay 35 percent of their profits in line with international reporting standards as dividends. The new rule is proposed to enter into effect as of 2014, according to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

According to the Finance Minister, in the fol­lowing three years, his agency will concentrate on raising revenues through such measures as increasing taxes and bringing the dividend payout percentage to at least 35. Presently, dividend payments stand at 25 percent and are assessed on figures computed under Russian accounting standards. Mr. Siluanov first shared his suggestions at a meeting with Russian legislators. Subse­quently, the Finance Ministry incorporated its initiative into the proposed budget for the years 2014 to 2016.

The higher dividend pay­ments will be phased in gradu­ally. For the next two years, the dividend percentage will not change and remain at 25 per­cent computed on an entity’s net profits. In 2016, which is the first year that the new divi­dend rate will get introduced, the initiative is expected to generate USD3.3 billion in ex­tra budgetary inflows.