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SPIMEX believes oil price agency in Russia not necessary — chief executive

"We believe the task of pricing for the Russian oil export market can and should be solved without creating a price agency. Existing mechanisms suffice to solve this problem," Aleksey Rybnikov said

MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. Russia has sufficient mechanisms for pricing exported oil and there is no need to create a national price agency to appraise its cost, President of the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX) Aleksey Rybnikov told reporters.

"We believe the task of pricing for the Russian oil export market can and should be solved without creating a price agency. Existing mechanisms suffice to solve this problem," Rybnikov said.

Proposals to create a Russian price agency were voiced by various agencies, including the Central Bank, the top manager said. SPIMEX has also repeatedly stated its position on this matter, he noted. "We believe the Russian Federation has excellent experience in the form of, firstly, exchange trading in commodities, and physical deliveries. Secondly, there is [Government] Resolution No. 623 based on information about actually concluded deals. No valuation, no manipulation. We suggest building up the price information system for the most diverse branches and the economy as a whole, relying exactly on these two things," Rybnikov said.

In 2022, interest in creating an internal exchange oil price indicator in Russia grew significantly and the discussion with certain agencies moved to a meaningful dialogue format, the top manager said. "I believe the need for such an indicator is not that great; I do not see how we can act differently now. The Tax Code and the law on the customs tariff in respect to the oil market set forth that the oil export duty is determined by monitoring prices on the Russian Urals blend feedstock on Mediterranean and Rotterdam crude oil markets. Since December 5 [the effective date of the EU embargo for Russian oil supplies] of last year, these markets have ceased to exist for the Urals blend," he stressed.