$50 per barrel of oil to get $1bn in export duties for Belarus

If the oil price stands at $50 per barrel, Belarus will get about $1 billion in export duties, BelTA learned from Belarusian Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Kiyko on 14 April.

“As far as export customs duties are concerned, the budget that has been adopted provides for revenues in excess of $2 billion, with the oil price at $83 per barrel. The budget has been revised, with the oil price down to $50 per barrel and the revenues down to $1 billion,” said the Belarusian Deputy Finance Minister.

The official went on saying that the state budget will be corrected on the basis of results of H1 2015. “There is no draft yet. Work is in progress to refine the revenues and the expenses,” noted Dmitry Kiyko.

The Deputy Finance Minister added that after Q1 2015 results are summed up, Belarus and Russia will start negotiations on matters concerning tax adjustments in the Russian oil industry.

The Deputy Finance Minister presented the bill on ratifying the Belarusian-Russian intergovernmental protocol on individual aspects of the application of international agreements that regulate customs duties on exporting crude oil from Belarus to beyond borders of the Customs Union. The protocol was signed in Minsk on 21 October 2014 in order to address consequences of recent taxation changes in the Russian oil industry. The protocol provides for transferring full paid (collected) sums of export customs duties and fines in U.S. dollars to Belarus’ state budget from 1 January through 31 December 2015. Those are duties on exporting products made from oil.

On 14 April the upper chamber of the Belarus parliament ratified a number of other international documents. The number included the agreement with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development on granting a $250 million loan to Belarus for modernizing a transit corridor.

The money will be used primarily for the reconstruction and modernization of some parts of the M6 motorway. Plans have been made to expand the M6 motorway from two lanes to four lanes in some areas between Minsk and Grodno, with their total length roughly 86km.

Apart from that, for the sake of encouraging transboundary traffic via the border checkpoint Bruzgi the project provides for remodeling and installing infrastructure in zones used for vehicle processing by carrying out the relevant operations, providing goods and the necessary consulting services.

Apart from that, the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus also approved the ratification of agreements with Cuba on mutual supplies and on mutual recognition of the registration of medications. Amendments concerning specially protected natural sites were also passed.