Putin supports increased oil taxes

The Associated Press

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Dec. 18 that he backs higher taxes for the country’s oil and gas companies in order to balance economic growth.

“The oil and gas industries are growing much faster than manufacturing,” Putin said during a nationally televised question-and-answer session. “This will eventually be to the detriment of the oil and gas industries themselves.”

Putin added that increasing taxes on the companies’ profits, which have soared over the past few years due to high international oil prices, is a necessary step to “balance development” among various sectors.

Putin repeatedly referred to the companies’ “windfall profits.” He said that in most countries, the government usually receives 80 percent of such profits and privately held companies get 20 percent, while in Russia the split is 50-50.

He said the Cabinet had tried to push higher tax rates through the Duma, the lower house of parliament, last year but was unsuccessful due to the oil companies’ influence in the Duma.