MINSK, 14 June (BelTA) – The reduction of the customs duty on the export of potash fertilizers will not substantially influence the state budget, BelTA learned from Belarusian First Deputy Finance Minister Maxim Yermolovich after an expanded-participation session of the Budget and Finance Commission of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus on 14 June.
Asked whether this year's state budget will be adjusted to accommodate the reduced export duty on potash fertilizers, Maxim Yermolovich explained that no adjustments will be necessary. “We understand that the decision that has been made takes into account the way the budget is being executed now. All the adjustments relating to the revenues and expenditures will be made but we don't think the reduced export duty on potash fertilizers will have a major effect,” stressed the official.
The first deputy finance minister said he was confident that while guaranteed revenues in the form of export customs duties will be lower, the profit margin will be increased. “Respectively we will get considerable sums in the form of revenues from the potash industry and in the form of the profit tax and dividends from the state-owned shares in Belaruskali. I don't think budget revenues will drop much,” he noted.
BelTA reported earlier that the customs duty on the export of Belarusian potash fertilizers has been reduced from €55 to €22 per tonne. The decision is laid down by the Belarus president's decree No.202 of 6 June 2017. The document applies to the relations that emerged from 1 April 2017 and will stay in effect till 31 December 2017.
