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No consensus on taxation of West Siberian fields — ministry

The Russian Finance and Energy Ministries have not yet agreed upon taxation of West Siberian oilfields

MOSCOW, June 14. /TASS/. The Russian Finance and Energy Ministries have not yet agreed upon taxation of West Siberian oilfields, Deputy Minister Ilya Trunin said on Tuesday.

"We have not contacted the Energy Ministry recently. We are interacting with taxpayers and discussing parameters," Trunin said.

Neither West Siberian nor East Siberian fields were discussed in terms of taxation, he added.

Turin said the ministry is against providing companies with an option of choosing the taxation system for greenfields.

"It’s difficult for me to imagine a criterion of making such a decision. Clearly the taxpayer will select a regime more beneficial for it. Why should we then make a new one? We also do not have a task of making the [taxation] regime more beneficial than the existing one," the official said commenting on the proposal of Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak to give an option to companies to select either an old one or a new one taxation system for greenfields.

Proposals of the Finance Ministry on unification and a single procedure cannot be applicable for all fields on equal basis, Novak said earlier. The procedure should be applied at taxpayer’s selection either in accordance with the existing procedure or pursuant to newly developed taxation, he added.