Russia: The annual shareholder meeting of Baltika Brewery has ratified dividends for 2004 totaling RUR1.908bn (approx. USD68.5m), or RUR13.94 (approx. USD0.5) per common share, and RUR18.12 (approx. USD0.65) per preferred share, the company's press service has reported.

According to a report of RosBusiness Consulting from March 30, the shareholder meeting has also approved the procedure of paying out dividends in two advances, the first advance scheduled for April 11, 2005, and the second for August 1, 2005. According to the company's statistics, dividends have grown by 4.5 times over past 5 years, while the size of dividend payments has grown by 20 percent since 2003.