Sakhalin Energy, a joint venture with gas giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) and oil major Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) as principle shareholders, paid $1.352 billion in dividends to the Russian state, the Vedomosti daily reports Friday, citing an unpublished financial report from the company.
In April 2007, when Russian state gas firm Gazprom took control of the joint venture, the shareholders agreed to sell one privileged share to the Russian state, which guaranteed it $1.352 billion in dividends for that year, the paper said.
Sakhalin Energy finished that year with a net loss of $1.36 billion, and none of the core shareholders received any dividends, according to the company's unpublished financial report for 2007.
The report didn't state when the dividend payment was made, the paper said.
A spokesman for Sakhalin Energy declined to comment on the report.
The Sakhalin joint venture, in which Gazprom holds a 51% stake, Shell a 27.5% stake, Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (8031.TO) 12.5% and Mitsubishi Corp. (8058.TO) 10%, operates the Sakhalin-2 project on Russia's Pacific Coast and launched Russia's first LNG plant in February last year.