damper adjustment does not increase the tax burden on the industry – Kommersant

Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov explained that adjusting the damper does not increase the burden on the oil industry. This tool acts as a fine-tuning of the Russian tax legislation, taking into account changes and restrictions in the global market.

“We are adjusting the fuel damper, which is a tool to smooth out price fluctuations and stimulate fuel supplies to the domestic market. Its parameters were tied to export parity, and now Western markets, including the European one, are closed for the supply of our oil products. Therefore, in the case of adjusting the damper, one cannot speak of an increase in the tax burden – this is only an additional adjustment based on the real economic situation in the oil refining sector,” Mr. Sazanov said in an interview. “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”.

The Deputy Finance Minister drew attention to the fact that it is economically unjustified to continue paying oil refineries in relation to prices at which they no longer export oil products. He noted that if, due to changes in logistics and a discount on oil products from Russia, the selling price for exports decreased, then this should be taken into account when paying companies under the damper.

“Over the past year, we have generally not increased the tax burden on the oil industry. Rather, we fine-tuned our tax legislation, taking into account changes in the global market and external restrictions that have affected our country,” he said.

According to Mr. Sazanov, pricing for Russian oil has become much less transparent, and Urals quotes based on CIF, which is used to calculate taxes and duties, “do not always reflect the real state of affairs.” “Therefore, for tax purposes, we tied the price of our oil to the quotations of the North Sea Brent grade, setting an indicative (maximum maximum) at a discount to it,” he added.

According to the Deputy Minister, the taxation of the oil and gas sector is currently at an acceptable level. It not only allows you to receive the necessary revenues to the budget, but also allows the entire industry to develop and make investments, including in new projects. “Therefore, it cannot be said for sure that the tax regime for the oil and gas sector is unbalanced or that the tax burden is too high. We do not see this in the financial position of the companies either, they are all right,” Mr. Sazanov concluded.

In June the government agreed reduction of payments to oil companies on the damper from September 1. It is expected that by adjusting the damper, the budget can save 50 billion rubles. per month. According to Kommersant’s interlocutors, the decision no longer provokes resistance from the industry, but the discussion of the tax bill is still ongoing. In 2022, oil companies received 2.16 trillion rubles from the fuel damper.

Read more about the situation on the market in the material “Kommersant” “Gasoline evaporated on the road.”

Milena Kostereva