Replenishment of NWF in 2023 possible if prices for oil exports consistently exceed $60/barrel - Kolychev

MOSCOW. April 12 (Interfax) - The replenishment of the National Welfare Fund (NWF) in 2023 is not unrealistic and could occur if the price of exported Russian oil consistently exceeds the $60/barrel mark, Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Kolychev said.

Earlier, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov did not rule out the possibility of replenishing the fund this year. "The prices of our energy resources let us down, we factored in a price of $70/barrel for our oil in drawing up the budget. Now the Urals oil prices are lower, given all the discounts and restrictions. This of course means that we are short on oil and gas revenues. So if we planned to replenish the National Welfare Fund this year, we won't replenish it yet, but take some money from it while the situation is like this, but it could well be that the situation will change and we will replenish it again," he said in early April.

"Yes, this situation cannot be ruled out, that is, if actual revenues exceed baseline ones, the National Welfare Fund will indeed be replenished. Our baseline revenues are 8 trillion rubles and with current production, with the current exchange rate ratio, this roughly corresponds to plus or minus $60 per barrel of our oil sold for export. Basically, we are already close to these values, so we can't say it's implausible. If oil remains consistently above $60, then yes, it is quite possible that we will replenish the fund," Kolychev said.