Finance ministry: Belarus to lose $10 billion due to Russia’s tax maneuver

Belarus is going to lose $10 billion due to Russia’s oil tax maneuver in the next six years, the Belarusian Ministry of Finance announced. Deputy Minister of Finance Andrei Belkavets mentioned this issue at the foreign investors’ forum BelarusCrossway'18.

He presented two scenarios of the situation, belaruspartisan.by reports. The mentioned loss is possible in the worst case scanario if Belarus does not receive any compensation. Crude oil processing will become unprofitable in this case, Belkavets said. Belarus will have no need to import 24 million tons of oil since 6 million tons will be enough for the domestic market (Belarus extracts 1.5 million tons of its own crude).

However, Minsk is hopeful that ‘some compensation measures’ will be taken.

"There is no source that could compensate for the loss of the income made on oil exports,” the deputy Minister of Finance noted. “That is why Belarus is expressing hard-line attitude in the negotiations with Russia.”

According to the tax maneuver, the oil export duty will be decreased from 30% to 0%. The mineral extraction tax will be proportionally increased. As a result, the Russian oil price is expected to grow in Belarus.