It may be decided to raise export duties on oil products within the Customs Union in December 2010. On this November 12 Deputy Russian Finance Minister Sergei Shatalov. This issue will be considered on November 19 in St. Petersburg at the international council of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia by the prime ministers of the three states.
«We are ready to agree on the distribution of export duties and the procedure for their collecting. We are in tough negotiations with Belarus. Apparently, it is necessary to make the decision at the highest political level. Once it is accepted, we will have a new horizon of understanding, and such a decision (raising taxes) is very likely to taken in December,» Sergei Shatalov said.
In this case, according to Deputy Finance Minister of Russia, the decision may enter into force on January 1, 2011, RBC reports.
According to the Russian Finance Ministry, it’s necessary to increase export duties on oil products to 85-90% of export duty on crude oil to ensure equal profitability of oil and oil products. Sergei Shatalov said that such a fee is the average «basket» index of oil products (light and dark) with the continuing differentiation.
«It would be wrong, in my opinion, to cancel the differentiation of light and heavy oil at a time. It will possibly take a few years to reduce them (duty) semultaneously,» Russian Deputy Minister of Finance said.
Sergei Shatalov also noted that in the result of the abolition of indirect subsidies to oil refiners in Belarus, Russia will get $2 billion a year. In the future, according to official, Russian refiners will receive the state subsidies for modernization. According to the Ministry of Finance of Russia, their size will be determined by the Energy Ministry and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Also Sergei Shatalov said that the Ministry of Finance intends to propose a new taxation model of the oil industry in 2012, which provides for the introduction of a new tax on the added income while reducing taxes on mineral extraction and export duties on crude oil.
