Russian stocks crash after referendum news, higher oil, gas taxes

MOSCOW, Sep 20 (PRIME) -- The Russian stocks crashed on Tuesday because of increased geopolitical tensions related to possible referendums in Ukraine and the prospects of higher taxes for oil, gas, and LNG exporters, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index crashed by 8.84% to 2,215.67, and the RTS Index plummeted by 9.31% to 1,154.17.

“The Russian stock market plummeted on Tuesday … on the back of a deteriorated geopolitical environment and the prospects of higher taxes,” Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The investors were worried about the news that referendums on four regions in Ukraine joining Russia are planned for the period from Friday to September 27, Kozhukhova said.

In addition to that, the market also reacted negatively to the news that Russia may raise taxes for oil and gas export companies to receive more than 3 trillion rubles to the budget in 2023–2025. The government plans to raise the export duty on gas to 50%, impose the export duty on liquefied natural gas (LNG), raise local prices for gas, and increase the mineral extraction tax (MET) on gas.

The decision of the parliament’s lower house State Duma to approve amendments concerning military and mobilization issues also contributed to the overall negative moods on the Russian stock market, Kozhukhova said.

The oil and gas sector was leading the losses, with Novatek falling by 10.12% also because of concerns that the tax initiative may force the company to cancel earlier announced dividends for January–June, Kozhukhova said.

Below are the MOEX Russia Index’ five most active stocks on Tuesday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-10.08	219.6	40.554
Sberbank	-10.02	124.21	21.889
Lukoil	-10.51	4023.5	9.627
Yandex	-11.75	1968	5.979
Novatek	-10.12	1053.2	5.865

(60.1662 rubles – U.S. $1)

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