Page 92 - bne IntelliNews monthly country report Russia February 2024

prepared, Deputy Minister Vasily Shpak noted.
9.2 Major corporate news 9.2.1 Oil & gas corporate news
● Rosneft
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree at the start of December that means state-owned oil giant Rosneft has the right to say nothing in public about their business. Indeed, sanctioned companies are permitted under law to conceal most of the information usually required for corporate filings. However, this does not mean Sechin is keeping mum.
On the contrary, at the start of December he penned a blistering tirade in a Rosneft press release about its Q3 financial results. The text ran to nine paragraphs: one is about the company’s performance; another on shareholder interests; the rest list grievances against the Central Bank and the Finance Ministry. In his extraordinary outburst, Sechin expressed unhappiness with:
● “Constant changes” to industry taxation, particularly the small discount for the price of Urals crude against Brent used by the Finance Ministry. We have previously explained how, through 2022, the excess profits oil companies made via their foreign subsidiaries were not subject to Russian tax due to a huge on-paper discount for Urals. In the spring, the Finance Ministry brought taxes into line with reality.
● The “unresolved decision” to slash compensation to oil companies for selling fuel on the domestic market at reduced prices. This triggered a fuel crisis in the summer and, as a result, the compensation was reinstated.
● An increase in gas production tax, which is due to take effect next year. In October, Rosneft proposed reducing the planned rise in the Mineral Extraction Tax for all gas producers (including itself) except state-owned gas giant Gazprom, while compensating the state for lost revenues by, instead, increasing taxes on Gazprom and producer Novatek, as well as on the banking sector.
● Increases in interest rates. This is a position held by most major Russian companies.
● That the Central Bank “has never created reliable ways to execute cross-border payments in different currencies.”
Rosneft’s financial report was published ahead of a December 1 meeting between Sechin and Putin. That encounter will take place
92 RUSSIA Country Report February 2024 www.intellinews.com