Russia Wants to Unify Duty on Petro Products

This is a part of the government’s strategy to stimulate the petroleum industry.

The measure’s effectiveness in encouraging refining may be negatively affected by the falling consumption rates brought on by the world financial crisis. “An industry source told the Russian business paper Kommersant that “The evening of the duties is really aimed against mini-refineries whose activities are uncontrolled that are technologically unable to produce high-quality gasoline and churn out fuel oil for export and further refinement.” The source said that there are hundreds of such refineries. The volume they produce is also hard to estimate because they use a certain amount of stolen oil. Mainly the refineries are located in the south of Russia and have close ties with local administrations. Up to 30 percent of the gasoline on the market is counterfeit as well, the source said.

Author: Ksenia Kochneva