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Antimonopoly service opposes higher excise duties on oil products

Earlier the federal antimonopoly service proposed not to increase excise duties on petroleum products in 2012 and in 2013

MOSCOW, March 14 (Itar-Tass) — Russia’s federal antimonopoly service has requested the Finance Ministry to reconsider its proposal for raising excise duties on petroleum products as of July 1, 2012, the service’s chief, Igor Artemyev, told reporters on Wednesday.

He noted that this position is supported by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and the Energy Ministry.

“We do not know what decision will be taken,” Artemyev said.

At the same time he expressed concern over the growth of prices on petroleum products on the Russian market. It is evident that the growth will continue and it will depend not only on excise duties, but also on global prices of petroleum products.

Earlier the federal antimonopoly service proposed not to increase excise duties on petroleum products in 2012 and in 2013.

“The growth of excise duties by 2,000 roubles per tonne (one dollar is equal to approximately 30 roubles) results in the corresponding growth of retail petrol prices from 1.5 to 2 roubles per liter,” the federal antimonopoly service’s deputy chief, Anatoly Golomolzin, said.

“Therefore we propose to exempt duties in a flexible mode, i.e. to index excise duties depending on prices on the external market. If the price is high, it is necessary to reduce excise duties to make the fluctuation of prices not so significant,” he said.

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