The government has proposed measures to combat the fuel crisis

The crisis in the fuel market has attracted the attention of Russian President Vladimir Putin. At a meeting with his participation, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak proposed stabilizing fuel prices by increasing budget damping payments to oil workers, which have been halved since September. He also promised to increase it to 50 thousand rubles. per ton a protective duty for fuel “resellers”, which, however, will not completely solve the problem of gray exports. So far, the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel is far from the maximum due to the export ban, but Kommersant’s interlocutors believe that prompt measures will be required in the near future.

The government proposes to increase the attractiveness of fuel supplies for oil workers by adjusting the damper. Since September, it has halved budget payments to refineries by adding a 0.5 coefficient to the damper formula. As Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said at a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with members of the government, “we are talking about increasing the coefficient, which will compensate for the difference between the export alternative and exchange prices on the domestic market.”

On the beginning of a discussion on returning to full payments for the damper Kommersant reported on September 5but now this issue, at least in the public sphere, has been raised to the level of the President of the Russian Federation.

However, in the event of an increase in damper payments, it is unknown how the additional budget expenses will be compensated.

And if changes to the Tax Code are adopted in October, they will come into force no earlier than December, however, according to one of Kommersant’s sources, they may be applied “retroactively.”

At the same time, several Kommersant interlocutors believe that an “emergency” systemic solution must be found to stabilize fuel prices, which reached historical highs in September amid the growth of export alternatives. The government does not have much time left to find such a solution, or the export ban will lead to destructive consequences for oil refining. The Ministry of Finance and the press service did not comment on the damper initiative.

Mr. Novak’s other proposals related to another problem of the fuel market – gray exports, when volumes of fuel shipped to the domestic market (with a damper payment) are resold for export.

The official proposed an increase from 20 thousand to 50 thousand rubles. per ton a protective duty on fuel exports for “resellers”.

However, Kommersant’s interlocutors in the industry believe that this measure will not completely stop gray exports: currently it does not apply to small and medium-sized refineries that do not produce commercial petroleum products, which, in conditions of high export prices, earn money from supplies abroad and are considered the main gray exporters. “I consider it possible to completely ban the sale for export of any petroleum products that were purchased on the domestic market and were not produced,” said Mr. Novak, without specifying by what measures this ban could be implemented, although at the end of August he promised in the near future time to approve the list of exporters. Export licensing was also discussed.

The recent damper cut is just one of the factors behind the sharp increase in fuel prices on the domestic market, says Olesya Nikiforova from Kept. Another manual adjustment can to some extent regulate the turbulence of the fuel market, but in the long term, in order to achieve a balance of interests of the state, business and the end consumer, a systemic adjustment of the legislation is required, the expert believes. Boris Sinitsyn, an independent expert on commodity companies, believes that restoring the damper may have advantages for the budget: “In the event of a significant strengthening of the ruble to such a level that the export alternative in rubles will be less than the indicative price, the budget will receive more funds for the damper than if the damper would have been cut.”

Dmitry Kozlov