According to Reuters article published on April 27, 2023, the CEO of TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) said on Thursday he did not know whether his company could receive a recently announced dividend payment from Russian gas producer Novatek (NVTK.MM), in which the French oil major has a 19.4% stake.
Novatek shareholders this week approved a total dividend payout for 2022 of 105.58 rubles ($1.29) per share, including a payout of 45 rubles per share already granted for the first half of last year.
TotalEnergies, which unlike rivals BP (BP.L) and Shell (SHEL.L) has held on to some of its investments in Russia, took a $4.1 billion write-off on its stake in Novatek at the end of last year and withdrew its two members from the board of the company.
As a result, the holding has been deconsolidated from the French firm's accounts, although TotalEnergies says it cannot sell the Novatek stake.
Asked by analysts on Thursday if the company could keep receiving dividends from Novatek, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said: "We have seen there was a decision of a dividend. Can it go through, back to the accounts of TotalEnergies? We will see along the year. I cannot just tell you today.
"Russia ... we do not plan the future, we just monitor day after day, week after week, month after month. If it comes, it comes, if it does not come... it's not in the plan, I would say."
In its 2022 accounts, TotalEnergies said cash flow from its Russian operations - which include minority holdings in liquefied natural gas projects Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG - amounted to $1.48 billion, and capital employed in the country stood at $2.87 billion.
Analysts have said TotalEnergies received around $450 million in half-year dividends from Novatek in the second quarter of last year.
($1 = 81.5955 roubles)
