Oleg Deripaska said about the shortage of cash from Rusal

Despite the net profit for the past year of $ 1 billion, the aluminum company again has no money. In the event of requisition by the state of 513 billion rubles from Russian metallurgical and chemical companies, Rusal's losses due to the lack of dividends from MMC Norilsk Nickel will amount to 1.4 billion dollars.
15.08.2018
RBC
UC Rusal Oleg Deripaska, who fell under US sanctions, may suffer from the proposal of presidential assistant Andrei Belousov to withdraw 513.7 billion rubles. super profits for metallurgists, fertilizer producers and Sibur for 2017. This is stated in the presentation titled "Cash deficit", which the company sent to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. RBC has a copy of this document, its authenticity was confirmed by a source who learned about the presentation from an official of this department.

UC Rusal did not get on the list of 14 companies, which Belousov offered to withdraw super profits, but this company is the second largest shareholder of Norilsk Nickel (owns 27.8%), which, according to the idea of ​​the official, should be transferred to the budget the most - 114 billion rubles. of 513.7 billion rubles. For the execution of the May decrees of President Vladimir Putin. And Norilsk Nickel's dividends are "necessary" for the aluminum company to finance the cash deficit, the presentation said.

According to the document, US sanctions imposed on UC Rusal on April 6 already led to restrictions on metal exports to Europe, the United States and Asia (the company supplied 2.9 million tons annually, including 1.4 million tons of value-added products). In addition, transport companies refused to service export contracts of the aluminum producer and import supplies of raw materials and materials for its foreign and Russian assets. Because of these restrictions, UC Rusal expects an outflow of $ 1.4 billion to finance working capital in 2018, a decrease in EBITDA in the next three years and a cash deficit, the presentation said.

The cash deficit at UC Rusal in 2018 will be $ 99 million, in 2019 $ 655 million and another $ 777 million in 2020, follows from the presentation. The document takes into account Norilsk Nickel dividends paid to Deripaska in 2017 ($ 410 million), but there are no interim payments for the first half of 2018 (UC Rusal is entitled to $ 600 million), which the board of directors of the nickel producer recommended only on Tuesday, August 14 .

Calculations of financial indicators of UC Rusal for 2019-2020, specified in the presentation, do not foresee any payments from Norilsk Nickel. That is, without them, the company faces a $ 1.43 billion hole in two years.

If the initiative of Belousov to withdraw super profits is realized, the company will not be able to pay generous dividends, explains Maxim Khudalov, director of the corporate ratings group of ACRA. Of course, it is able to reduce part of the capital costs - for example, $ 1 billion from the $ 2.5 billion investment planned for 2018, will go to environmental programs, and they can be squeezed, the expert argues. But at "Norilsk Nickel" the most part of expenses refers to the obligatory, necessary for maintenance of production process (stay-in-business projects), therefore under payments there will be payments to shareholders, he warns. This explains the concern of Deripaska's company.

Representatives of UC Rusal and the Ministry of Industry and Trade refused to comment.

The initiative of the presidential aide on the seizure of profits has already been criticized by other companies that appeared on the list of Belousov. So, the main owner of NLMK Vladimir Lisin said that this proposal "looks like a promotion of inefficiency: the lower the profitability, the less taxes you will have to pay." And the owner of Severstal, Alexei Mordashov, asked Denis Manturov, the minister of industry, not to withdraw the excess income, otherwise "there will be no need to speak about any growth in the ferrous metallurgy or, in general, in our economy."

The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) this week wrote a letter to Putin, in which he pointed out that the initiative of Belousov does not contribute to increasing competitiveness and would negatively affect the investment attractiveness of the country.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on August 13 that the president had not yet agreed with his assistant's initiative, but merely instructed her to work in the government. Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov instructed the relevant departments to send the draft report to the government by Friday, August 17, follows from his commission, a copy of which is in RBC.

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