Page 55 - RusRPTAug19

Revenues to Russia's federal budget were down 1.8% y/y in June but up 10.7% y/y in 1H19. The drop in revenues in June was due to lower oil and gas revenues (down 7.7% y/y).
For 1H19, revenues totalled RUB9.5 trillion. Non-oil and gas revenues rose by 15.7% y/y in 1H19, which was primarily due to VAT contributions (up 17.5% y/y), while oil and gas revenues were up 4.7%.
Expenditures rose 8.1% y/y in June and 3.0% y/y in 1H19, totalling RUB8.0 trillion in 1H19. Expenditures for May were revised downward by RUB132bn. The growth in budget spending in 1H19 was below what was set out in the government's plan for the full year (9.5% in 2019).
The budget surplus in June was RUB277.8bn, while the surplus in May was revised upward to RUB467.5bn. This put the surplus for 1H19 at RUB1.6 trillion. The government expects a budget surplus of RUB1.9 trillion this year (1.8% of GDP), whereas we forecast it coming in at 2.4% of GDP, assuming $/RUB at 64 and Brent at $70/bbl.
6.1.2 Budget dynamics - specific issues...
Russia to introduce register of taxes and exemptions in 2020. The Federal Tax Service (FTS) is planning to assemble a comprehensive register of taxes and exemptions across Russia’s regions. The Ministry of Finance (MinFin) is then to assess their effectiveness.
“This constitutes a fair clear manoeuvre towards centralization of tax authority, specifically enabling federal ministries to dictate local funding measures. A similar scheme has already taken effect within federal taxes, but regional
55 RUSSIA Country Report August 2019 www.intellinews.com