ST. PETERSBURG, June 14. /TASS/. The bill suggesting that the Russian Urals benchmark based on the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange’s (SPIMEX) over-the-counter (OTC) indices will be used for calculation of taxes in the oil sector may be submitted to the State Duma (lower house) in early July, State Secretary, Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Sazanov told reporters on Wednesday.

"We suggest that one of the options be included among other things within the framework of the bill [on reduction of damper payments] in half, the calculation of the price on the OTC index [of SPIMEX]," he said, adding that the bill would be submitted to the State Duma in early July.

The SPIMEX’ OTC indices may only be used as one of quotations for calculation of the mineral extraction tax, the excess-profits tax and the export duty, Sazanov added.