Putin tells Energy Ministry to draft decree on higher fuel export duty today
MOSCOW. April 28 (Interfax) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ordered acting Energy Minister Sergei Kudryashov to submit a draft resolution raising the export duties on refined oil products before the close of business on Thursday.
"Sergei Ivanovich [Kudryashov], please submit the draft of the document on the higher oil product export duties by the end of the day," Putin said at a meeting of the government presidium.
The higher duties will only apply to gasoline, Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters.
"Customs duty on gasoline export will rise on May 1. We expect the relevant government decree will be drafted by the end of the day," he said.
It is not known how much the duty will rise, but it will not rise to a prohibitive level, he said. "It will be a level designed to balance export and domestic needs," Peskov said.
Peskov said the higher duties would be offset by a possible decrease in natural resource extraction tax (NRET) or excise. He said the Finance Ministry and Energy Ministry had been told to look into this urgently, and that the issue would be resolved "flexibly", in other words the tax burden could be eased by 2012.
As for Putin's request to compile a register of independent petroleum product producers, Peskov said this would be done in order to forge relations with them. "The law does not force them to sell goods, it cannot. But it can build relations with them such that if they do obtain licenses to sell the products they will have to abide by their requirements," Peskov said.
Peskov said regarding Putin's proposal to alter the timeframe for introducing Euro 3 fuel standards that the new timeframe had not yet been decided.
At a meeting of the Government Presidium, Putin requested a report on the reasons for the increase in fuel prices in several Russian regions. Acting Energy Minister Kudryashov presented the report.
According to Kudryashov, the main reasons for current problems with high fuel prices in several Russian regions is the fact that exports of petroleum products has increased by 67%.
"The reason is that the current payment for the domestic market against the export alternative comes to 2,000-3,000 rubles less per tonne in several different regions. Secondly, some of our refineries are currently not completely able to meet regulations that stipulate the introduction of Euro-3 standard as since January 1 of this year," Kudryashov said.
He added that a portion of independent producers expect an upward correction in prices on the domestic market and, because of this, are withholding a portion of their petroleum production.
Furthermore, according to Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), sales of gasoline through exchanges are not effective and there are serious suspicions that many exchange tractions are fictitious.
