The head of Kuzbass called for ridding the aluminum industry of “exchange” taxes

The head of Kuzbass, Sergei Tsivilev, asked the Russian government to exempt the aluminum industry from exchange rates. He explained this by the need to preserve jobs in the region.

Mr. Tsivilev explained that the government has introduced a tax on many export goods, but “the negative impact of this measure is due to the lack of selectivity in its introduction,” reports “RBC”. The duties affected both companies that export products and extract raw materials in Russia, as well as those that purchase raw materials abroad.

The head of Kuzbass cited economic justification for the negative impact of the duty on the Novokuznetsk aluminum smelter, owned by Rusal, and called for the abolition of the tax for the industry in order to “reduce losses to a non-critical level and preserve the enterprise and staff in the city of Novokuznetsk.” In particular, the plant’s loss for 2023 will be about 485 million, and in 2024 – 3.36 billion rubles.

The government confirmed receipt of the appeal. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin instructed First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, and he, in turn, instructed the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Federal Antimonopoly Service to deal with this issue. The authorities do not rule out easing, but on the basis of “accurate calculations, if companies honestly show the economy.”

Previously, against the backdrop of exchange rate duties and reduced prices, Rusal conceived close some businesses. The duties were introduced on October 1, 2023 as a temporary measure to regulate the internal market. Depending on the dollar-ruble ratio, the export duty ranges from 0 to 7%.

Read more about exchange fees in the material “Exporters’ margin will be measured seven times”.

Alexandra Goroshilova