A verse in the morning, a newspaper story by evening: ** Transneft Says Higher Dividends Would Deprive Orphans, Sick**
OAO Transneft, Russia’s state pipeline monopoly, says that paying higher dividends would reduce support for orphans and other charitable programs. According to the company’s financial statements, Transneft made 3.2 billion rubles ($112 million) in charitable contributions in 2009—7.8 times more than it paid out in dividends to private investors. That prompted preferred shareholders such as Prosperity Capital Management Ltd. and East Capital to demand more information as they push for a larger share of profits. ... “It’s a fine piece of Soviet-style propaganda,” said Alexander Branis, chief investment officer at Stockholm-based Prosperity, which manages about $5.6 billion in assets. “But the company’s charter says its main purpose is to make money for shareholders, not to raise money for good causes.” ... According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Transneft’s 12-month dividend yield is 0.62 percent. Pembina Pipeline Corp. of Calgary, which operates oil and gas pipelines in western Canada, pays 6.81 percent, while San Antonio-based NuStar Energy LP, with 8,417 miles (about 13,546 km) of pipelines, pays 6.49 percent. www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/transneft-says-increased-dividends-would-deprive-orphans-sick.html Update. A short adapted translation, at readers’ request: *Transneft says it spent half a billion dollars on orphans. The orphans’ names are Isidor Yakovlevich, Afanasy Yakovlevich, Kirill Yakovlevich, Oleg Yakovlevich, and Pasha Emilevich. Transneft shareholders don’t like this arrangement: why are they getting so cheeky? said Prosperity Capital fund manager Alexander Branis. President Medvedev’s talking points aren’t impressing anyone. The Transneft crowd say all pipeline companies have low dividends. But that’s nonsense: their yield is 0.6%, while comparable companies in Canada and Mexico pay 6.81% and 6.49%. *Update 2. Technical progress now lets us do more than just translate an article from English into Russian—we can turn it straight into a Russian-language video report:
