Shares of Gazprom fell by 30% due to refusal to pay dividends

At the minimum, the paper traded at 207.69 rubles - 30.2% below the closing price of the last trading session.

The Moscow Exchange stopped trading in Gazprom's securities by 226.68 rubles - minus 23.84% compared to the previous close.

"There was a decrease in the current share price by 20% or more for 10 consecutive minutes from the closing price of the previous trading day", - the exchange said.

The collapse caused collapse in the entire Russian market. By 11:00 am, the Moscow Exchange index fell by 5.6% to 2246.49 points, the RTS index fell by 5.2% to 1338.94 points. The prices of the majority of "blue chips" on the Moscow Exchange fell by 8.3%.

Earlier, Gazprom planned to pay 52.53 rubles per share for 2021 (a total of 1.244 trillion rubles).

On May 26, the Board of Directors of Gazprom recommended paying dividends for 2021 in the amount of 52.53 rubles per share. This is a record amount both for the company and for the entire Russian stock market.

Based on this amount, the total amount of dividends should have exceeded 1.24 trillion rubles. This is half of the company's net income last year. Before July 20, persons entitled to receive dividends will be determined. The payment will be made by the end of August, the report says.