Fondul Proprietatea to pay dividends Of RON 0.816 a share for 2008 and 2009

Romanian investment fund Fondul Proprietatea will pay out a gross dividend of 0.816 lei a share for the 2008 and 2009 profits, according to a shareholders’ decision on Monday. The fund will start paying the dividends, which sum up around EUR 260 million, as of October 11. Fondul Proprietatea was set up in 2005 to compensate Romanians whose properties were confiscated during communism. End June, the fund's net assets reached over RON14.6 billion (EUR 3.4 billion). Romanian Finance Ministry holds 52.84% of the fund's shares, while the remainder is distributed among private stockholders. The fund owns shares in 99 companies, including Transgaz, Transelectrica, Alro, Romgaz and several power distributors. Mediafax