MINSK, April 23 By its resolution, the Government of Belarus decided to introduce a restriction on the payment of dividends to owners of shares and shares of Belarusian companies from unfriendly states, according to a document published on the country’s national legal Internet portal .
“Establish a restriction on the payment of distributed, accrued profits and dividends to foreign participants, owners of property of legal entities of the Republic of Belarus who are persons from foreign states committing unfriendly actions towards the Republic of Belarus, its citizens and organizations,” the document says.
The annex to it states that we are talking about countries such as Australia, EU states, Canada, Liechtenstein, Norway, New Zealand, Albania, Iceland, the Republic of North Macedonia, Great Britain, USA, Montenegro, Switzerland.
According to the resolution, the restriction applies if the amount of profits and dividends paid during a calendar year exceeds in aggregate for all foreign participants, owners of property of a Belarus resident company 80 thousand basic units (currently 3.2 million Belarusian rubles, or about 984 thousand dollars) or the equivalent of this amount in foreign currency at the official rate.
Meanwhile, it is possible for profits and dividends to be paid to foreign participants, property owners, by a company that has received the appropriate permit. It is issued by the regional and Minsk city executive committees for each payment of profits and dividends to a foreign participant, the owner of the property, subject to a number of criteria.
The resolution will come into force on April 24 and will be valid until December 31, 2025.
According to the decree, a company can receive permission if the total volume of profits and dividends declared and paid for the current calendar year is no more than 50% of the average volume of foreign direct investment on a net basis for five years. The payroll number of employees of a Belarus resident company must be at least 70% of last year’s level. The company should not have a net loss, no overdue debt on loans issued by Belarusian banks, taxes and obligatory payments to the budget, as well as budget loans. The criterion for obtaining a permit is to ensure that the nominal accrued average monthly salary for a resident of Belarus is not lower than 3.5 times the monthly minimum salary established by the government.
If a resident is refused permission, such payment is made by transferring profits and dividends to a current (settlement) bank account with a special operating regime. This does not apply to banks in Belarus, which accumulate funds in their accounts.
Payment of the specified profits and dividends to the foreign participant, the owner of the property, is carried out after the expiration of the restriction imposed by government decree.
The resolution also determines the procedure for obtaining permission for a Belarusian resident company to pay distributed profits and dividends to a foreign participant, the owner of the property, as well as the timing of the procedure.
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