MINSK, 9 December (BelTA) – Approaches to resolving the problem of compensating Belarus for the ongoing adjustment of taxation in the Russian oil industry were sketched out during negotiations between Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko and President of Russia Vladimir Putin in Sochi on 7 December, BelTA learned from Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Russia Vladimir Semashko on 8 December.
Vladimir Semashko stated that the matter of compensations for the losses caused by the so-called tax maneuver is a complicated problem in Belarusian-Russian relations. “It will be impossible to resolve the problem until we come to terms on the unification of the tax laws,” he said. “This is why the timeframe has been moved a bit by one year. Instructions were given to unify taxation in 2020-2021 and get it to work as from 1 January 2022. The matter of the full compensation for the losses caused by the tax maneuver may be resolved as from 1 January 2022. It is what the sides have agreed on.”
However, the ambassador noted, the presidents did not want to leave the matter hanging for the next two years and came up with certain decisions that will allow partially compensating Belarus for the losses caused by the tax maneuver. In particular, oil prices, bonuses for Russian companies, and so on were mentioned. “Certain decisions have been made. They give certain guarantees that our oil refineries will go through 2020 without pain,” Vladimir Semashko concluded.
