Russian budget to be slightly affected by leaving all petroleum product export duties on Belarusian budget - Siluanov
WASHINGTON. Oct 10 (Interfax) - Placing all export duties for petroleum products made from Russian oil in Belarus on the republican budget in 2015 will not have a significant impact on the parameters of Russia's budget, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told journalists.
"An agreement was reached for the export duties Belarus will receive from exporting its petroleum products in 2015 to remain in the republic. This norm is partially included in the Russian budget for 2015, and we will partially look for additional revenues to compensate what we did not factor into the budget," he said.
Siluanov added that the budget accounted for a $1.5 billion lack of duties from Belarus. The remaining amount not factored into the budget was substantially less, he said. Commenting on the possibility of replacing the revenue shortfalls from duties with other revenues, he said budgetary revenues were fairly flexible. "The price of oil has soared. Due to the exchange rate, we'll have additional revenues because 37.7 rubles has been put [in the budget], and now it's already 40 rubles. Everything balances out, somewhere has a little more, somewhere a little less. So whatever remains in Belarus and doesn't return to us, like last year, will insignificantly affect the parameters of the federal budget," Siluanov said.
Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said previously that high-level meetings have taken place over the last several days to discuss placing duties from exports of petroleum products produced in Belarus from Russian oil on the Belarusian budget.
"This is a sensitive subject for Russia and also a sensitive subject for Belarus. Joint solutions were found and our leadership is reporting on them. The Russian government will consider this question at a session today," Shuvalov said at a meeting of the High Level Group of the Union State's Council of Ministers in Minsk on Thursday.
Vitaly Busko, deputy chairman of the Standing Commission of the House of Representatives on International Affairs, also said that all export duties for petroleum products would remain in Belarus. This concerns $3-$3.5 billion, he said.
At a meeting to discuss the creation of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) in May of this year, Russia and Belarus agreed that starting in 2015, the Belarusian budget would keep $1.5 billion from export duties on petroleum products exported from Belarus to third-party countries. Starting in 2016, the two planned to begin discussing the possibility of increasing the size of transfers to the Belarusian budget from export duties.
Russia and Belarus agreed that 23 million tonnes of oil would be shipped to Belarus in 2015, followed by 24 million tonnes per year in 2016-2024. Adjustments are possible, however.
As reported, Russia expressed its readiness to meet Belarus halfway as concerns compensating the Belarusian budget's losses from the tax maneuver in the oil industry. The two countries agreed that in 2015, all duties from petroleum product exports would remain on the Belarusian budget.
