Russia says to halve margin of oil refineries from July

ST.PETERSBURG, Apr 28 (PRIME) -- The Finance Ministry will adjust the fuel price control mechanism from July to halve the margin of oil refineries caused by budget support and save 30 billion rubles per month, Minister Anton Siluanov said on Friday.

"Our current proposal is the following: to halve the margin (of oil refineries). And to stipulate halving the damping payment for a year, from July of this year until next year's July," Siluanov said.

He said that the circumstances for fuel producers changed, since the Western markets no longer buy Russian fuel, and the producers are capitalizing on state incentives earlier meant to reduce exports. The margin of the refineries grew to 8,000 rubles per tonne from 2,000 rubles per tonne.

According to the minister, the payment adjustments must not trigger an uncontrolled price rise.

(81.5601 rubles – U.S. $1)

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