MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/. Detsky Mir Group does not plan to propose to an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (EGM) the issue of payment of dividends for nine months of 2022, Russia’s children's goods retailer said in a statement on Monday.

"Given the abovementioned and reflecting a high market volatility and the need to ensure sufficient funding to maintain the market position of Detsky Mir, the company’s Board of Directors does not plan to propose to the EGM a payment of interim dividends for 9 months of 2022," the statement reads.

The free float of the company’s shares is 60%, with a significant part of the share capital owned by foreign investment funds.

"According to the recent regulatory developments in Russian law, foreign investment funds from unfriendly jurisdictions cannot trade on the Moscow Exchange. Moreover, because of the overall negative view of Western regulators on the Russian stock market, a number of investors are facing challenges when voting on General Meetings of Shareholders, which may block decisions that are critically important for the company’s business and does not allow to distribute dividends without the risk of their blocking in the C-type accounts," the company noted.

Earlier, Detsky Mir shareholders decided at an annual meeting not to pay final dividends for 2021. The company’s dividends for 2020 amounted to 4.486 bln rubles, whereas the interim payout for nine months of 2021 totaled 3.8 bln rubles, or 5.2 rubles per one ordinary share.

Detsky Mir Group is a multi-format omnichannel retailer operating on the market of children’s goods in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus. The group comprises the Detsky Mir and the Detmir Pickup retail chains, the detmir.ru online store and marketplace, as well as the Zoozavr pet supplies retail chain. As of June 30, 2022, the total number of the group’s stores amounted to 1,123 across 442 cities and towns in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus.