Owners of oil refineries propose to give excise duty on fuel to retailers

Major oil companies want to absolve themselves of the obligation to pay excise duty on fuel, shifting it from refineries to filling stations. They asked President Vladimir Putin about this. But the Government insists that the transfer is not possible technically, as not all fuel passes through filling stations during the sale. Experts note that it’s easier for the state to administer the excise duty at three dozen refineries than at hundreds of filling stations.

Heads of major Russian oil companies have asked Vladimir Putin to shift the payment of excise duties on motor fuels from refineries to filling station, the Interfax reported yesterday and the Kommersant’s sources confirmed. The application is associated with the unplanned increase of the excise rates from April 1: the duty on gasoline will grow by 2 rubles per 1 liter (the excise duty on fuel of the Euro-5 class will amount to 10130 rubles per ton till the end of the year). The rate on diesel fuel will increase by 1 ruble per 1 liter (5293 to rubles per ton). According to estimates of the Ministry of Finance, the price of fuel will increase by about 5%, and the budget will receive additional 90 billion rubles by the end of the year.