Russian companies are slashing dividend payments as lower oil prices and a stronger ruble weigh on profits, complicating the government’s efforts to finance higher spending on the country’s decade-long war against Ukraine. Interim dividends declared by Russian firms — many of which the state partly owns — for the first half of 2025 almost halved versus last year to 341.8 billion rubles ($4.09 billion), according to calculations by Russian business daily Kommersant, after lower commodity prices