Putin says oil industry taxes should be revised

President Putin of Russia has stated during a live radio and TV broadcast that the government should consider changing the taxation on oil companies.

In his words, of their total revenue, oil companies now have only about 20 percent for themselves, while the remaining percentage is transferred to the budget as taxes and levies. The President pointed to the fact that the existing taxation principles, including the extraction tax, have a direct impact on consumer prices.

Putin noted that the government has to consider the opportunity to change oil industry taxation principles so as to ensure steady budget revenue on the one hand, and to keep down domestic gasoline prices on the other, RBK reported.