The government will increase excise taxes on gasoline, this will lead to fuel imports

The fact that road funds do not have enough money and soon plan to replenish it by raising excise taxes on fuel of more pure environmental classes, on the sidelines of the Aem Summit, which takes place in the capital of Laos, said Deputy Minister of Finance Sergey Shatalov. “If you can increase excise taxes, then only on Euro-4 and Euro-5 and only since 2015. I think that next year this issue will be very sharply worth it,” the official said.

From January 1, 2013, Russia should abandon the use of non-ecological fuel "Euro-2" and switch to Euro-3. Today, gasoline of these ecological classes is the most produced. However, Sergei Shatalov fears that the Euro-2 turn-the-expected ban expected in two months will lead to a fuel deficiency within the country, and Russia will have to import more environmentally friendly gasoline.

If the production of Euro-2 and Euro-3 will be discontinued, then the taxes on excise taxes-Euro-4 and Euro-5 are also taxed today at low rates, writes Rossiyskaya Gazeta . As a result, in 2014, the shortage of road funds will be about 47-48 billion rubles, and already in 2015 it will double - up to 97 billion rubles.

However, experts believe that do not rush with the ban on the production of gasoline of the Euro-2 standard from next year. It must be left for some time, until all the refineries go to the production of fuel of a higher environmental class, the President of the Russian Fuel Union Yevgeny Arkush told the publication.

“The Euro-2“ Euro-3 ”is difficult and expensive from the production of gasoline, and it is much easier and cheaper to further update the technological process. Moreover, the saving in excise taxes between the second and fifth ecological class of fuel is about 3 thousand rubles per ton, so the re-equipment of the refinery is really profitable for manufacturers,” he said.

At the same time, due to the ban on the production of Euro-2 in 2013, a fuel deficiency of 800 thousand tons may form, Evgeny Arkush recalled the assessment of the Ministry of Energy. "This is quite a lot, given that this year a deficit of 400 thousand tons was recorded, and the ministry said that this fact causes certain fears," the expert admitted.

The terms for the transition to fuel of high environmental standards in Russia have been transferred repeatedly. The last time with a request to postpone the terms of technical regulations in the Ministry of Energy in 2011 was appealed to the oil companies that did not have time to introduce the installations necessary for the release of higher quality fuel on their refineries, recall the Vedomosti .

In September 2011, the Government of the Russian Federation approved the introduction of changes to the current technical regulations that extend the circulation of gasoline and Euro-2 diesel fuel for two years-until December 31, 2012, Euro-3 for three years-until December 31, 2014, Euro-4 for one year-until December 31, 2015.

In August, the FAS officially confirmed that almost all major Russian oil industry workers are asking the government to move the time for modernization of the refinery. At the end of September, the head of the FAS Igor Artemyev said that he considers it appropriate to transfer to six months a ban on the use of low environmental classes in Russia. The head of the Ministry of Energy at the end of November stated that his department was opposed to the extension of Euro-2 turnover.

The assets manager of the Criminal Code "Finams Management" Roman Velovoovsky believes that the turnover of the fuel of the Euro-2 standard will not be postponed. “Firstly, the state in this area has already met the market participants, and secondly, it can seriously correct further plans for the modernization of oil refineries. I believe that this time will show rigidity and decide to prohibit the circulation of the Euro-2 standard,” he notes.