russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at a meeting with russian dictator vladimir putin that the russian budget is facing "problems."
Source. The Moscow Times.
"Revenues not related to oil and gas are growing as planned. We expect that there may be a small plus by the end of the year. But there are problems with oil and gas revenues," Siluanov said.
According to the russian Ministry of Finance, in January-April, tax revenues from oil and gas fell by half to 2.3 trillion rubles, while total revenues fell by 22% to 7.8 trillion rubles.
At the same time, budget expenditures were 1.4 times higher than revenues, and as a result, a hole of 3.4 trillion rubles (more than $27 billion) was created in the treasury as of early May.
Raw material revenues are lagging behind the plan because of the discounts that oil companies have to give to buyers, Siluanov explained.
putin, in turn, replied to the minister that there should be no problems with filling the budget. russia has been voluntarily cutting oil production since April, specifically to reduce discounts on Urals, which reached $35 per barrel and higher in winter.
"All of our actions, including the voluntary production cuts, are related to the need to maintain a certain price environment on world markets in dialogue and contact with our OPEC+ partners," putin said.
According to the russian Ministry of Finance, the average price of Urals in April increased by 23% and exceeded $58 per barrel. Despite this, the decline in oil and gas revenues accelerated to 64% year-on-year from 43-47% in January-March.
Background. Meanwhile, russian oil exports were reported to have reached their highest level since the invasion of Ukraine. Most of it goes to India, from where it returns to Europe in the form of refined products.