Rosneft proposed amendments to the bill to increase the mineral extraction tax for natural gas producers
[ad_1]
As Kommersant found out, Rosneft is dissatisfied with the decision to increase taxes on gas production from 2024, considering it unfair that the size of the mineral extraction tax is increasing for independent gas producers more than for Gazprom. The bill has already been adopted by the State Duma in the first reading. The company proposed its amendments for the second reading: to equalize the increase in the mineral extraction tax for independent producers and Gazprom, not to increase the mineral extraction tax for gas, which is used for the needs of the energy sector and housing and communal services, and to close the budget deficit, take a closer look at the “windfall profits” of the banking sector.
The head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, suggested that State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin make amendments to the second reading of the bill on increasing the mineral extraction tax for natural gas producers. According to Kommersant’s sources, Mr. Sechin sent such an appeal on October 20. The bill was adopted in the first reading on October 17.
According to the bill, the Tax Code adjusts the increasing coefficient for the mineral extraction tax on gas (Kkg) from January 1, 2024. For Gazprom the adjustment will be less than for independent producers. The increase in the mineral extraction tax is part of a maneuver to withdraw additional income from gas producers to the budget, which they will receive due to the rapid indexation of wholesale gas prices for industry. It is expected that from December 1 there will be an unscheduled indexation of gas prices for industrial consumers, except for the electric power industry and housing and communal services – by 10%. From July 1, 2024, wholesale prices for all categories of consumers will be indexed by 11.2%, in 2025 – by 8.2%. As a result of the increase in the mineral extraction tax, the budget, according to the Ministry of Finance, will receive up to 116.8 billion rubles. in 2024, 127.3 billion rubles. in 2025 and 134.7 billion rubles. in 2026.
The bill, as Igor Sechin emphasizes, provides for a disparate increase in mineral extraction tax rates on gas for Gazprom and independent producers. According to his estimates, the change in the mineral extraction tax on gas for Gazprom will be 143–169 rubles. for 1 thousand cubic meters in 2024–2026, and for other producers – 421–558 rubles.
As Igor Sechin reminds, in order to normalize the situation in the fuel market, the government restored the damper from October 1, 2023. At the same time, based on the results of the report of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to President Vladimir Putin on October 3, it was decided not to increase the tax burden on oil companies, and the restoration of the damper should not be carried out at the expense of intra-industry sources. But, as the head of Rosneft notes, if the bill on increasing the mineral extraction tax on gas is adopted, the source of damper payments will actually be oil companies – gas producers, primarily Rosneft, which “provides more than 30% of all oil and gas budget revenues and supplies all produced natural gas to the domestic market.” He emphasizes that gas tariff indexation does not apply to all consumers, while the mineral extraction tax is growing for all gas produced by Rosneft, and because of this, the amount of additional taxes is twice as high as the increase in income from indexation. Rosneft supplies more than half of its gas to power plants.
Igor Sechin proposes to increase the mineral extraction tax for all gas producers equally – at the level of Gazprom. If an increase in gas prices for the electric power industry and housing and communal services is not provided, he proposes not to increase the mineral extraction tax on the gas supplied to such consumers. As additional sources of budget revenue, Rosneft proposes to increase the tax burden on companies that receive increased income from gas supplies to premium export markets – in fact, these are Gazprom and NOVATEK. Igor Sechin also sees opportunities for tax increases for “super-profitable sectors of the economy, primarily the banking sector.”
Rosneft, Gazprom, NOVATEK, the Ministry of Finance and the State Duma did not respond to Kommersant’s request.
Sergei Kondratyev from the Institute of Energy and Finance notes that, despite the increase in the mineral extraction tax on gas in 2024, the amount of production tax for independent gas producers is still significantly lower than that of Gazprom, including due to the high share of associated petroleum gas from oil companies (there is a zero tax rate for it). He also believes that the Ministry of Finance will, in any case, look for ways to withdraw “extra income” in various sectors to fulfill the record collection plan in 2024.
[ad_2]
Source link
