Tax Ministry reports results for 2002

The Russian federal budget received 1.15 trillion rubles (about $37bn at the current exchange rate) in tax revenues in 2002, Tax Minister Gennady Bukayev announced at an enlarged meeting of the Tax Ministry's board today. He noted it was 20 percent more than in 2001 and accounted for 95 percent of planned tax revenues. In particular, the federal budget saw an increase in tax payments on mineral resources to an additional of more than 30bn rubles (about $951m) due to a rise in oil production. The Minister also reported an increase the volume of collected excises, however, these revenues did not fully compensate for budget losses.