Nornickel believes 2026 will bring dividends, CEO says

Russia’s Nornickel, one of the world’s largest producers of nickel and the largest producer of palladium, believes conditions in 2026 will allow for the resumption of dividend payments, CEO Vladimir Potanin said on Friday in an interview with state TV.

Nornickel did not pay full-year dividends for 2022, 2023 and 2024 as Western sanctions and falling prices for its key metals weighed on revenues. It last paid an interim dividend in 2023.

Russia’s listed metals producers have been some of the worst performers among the country’s stocks in recent years.

“Gradually, we are moving toward having a positive cash flow, so in the near future, I think we will be able to start paying dividends again, of course not as large as before,” said Potanin, who is also a major shareholder of the metals giant.

“In 2026, we are already planning for a positive financial flow with the goal of paying dividends,” added Potanin, who is Russia’s fifth-richest businessman, according to Forbes. He did not specify when Nornickel could resume dividend payments.

Nornickel has been using free cash flow as a guide on dividend payments after a shareholder agreement protecting payouts expired in 2022.

While Nornickel is not subject to direct sanctions, the Western measures prompted some foreign producers to avoid buying Russian metal, complicated payments and restricted access to Western equipment, leading the company to redirect sales to Asia.

(By Anastasia Teterevleva and Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Thomas Derpinghaus)