Belarus Already Lost $663 Million through Oil Duties, Finance Ministry

Ministry of Finance of Belarus estimated net losses of the budget in 2010 in the result of Russian export duties on crude oil and petroleum products. According to the head of the main tax policy and revenue budget of the Ministry of Finance Dmitri Kijko, they amounted to Br2 trillion ($662.9 million).

With Belarus’ export duties zeroing on crude oil and petroleum, which was necessary to ensure a profitable refining operation, shortfalls in the budget amounted to Br5 trillion, said the representative of the Ministry of Finance, BelTA informs.

Reduction of subsidies to oil refiners made it possible to return Br3 trillion rubles to the budget. «Therefore, the net budget loss is estimated up to Br2 trillion,» said Dmitri Kijko.