Russia's Finance Ministry will oppose expanding scope of EPT under terms of OPEC+ deal

MOSCOW. Sept 26 (Interfax) - Russia's Finance Ministry intends to oppose expanding the scope to apply the excess profit tax (EPT) under the terms of the OPEC+ deal, State Secretary and Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov told journalists.

"Under the terms of the OPEC+ deal, no. We are currently not producing as much [oil] as we could at the existing fields. Namely, we are producing below potential. If additional benefits were implemented, then this would simply incentivize the flow of production where the mineral extraction tax (MET) is lower, which would mean losses for the budget. Therefore, it is too soon to expand the scope of the excess profit tax in conditions when we cannot increase production," Sazanov said in response to whether there are plans to expand the list of fields with the EPT.

The Finance Ministry intends to oppose expanding the EPT as long as the OPEC+ deal is in force, Sazanov said.