The former president of Rosneft, the owner of Neftegazholding, Eduard Khudainatov, asked the government to provide benefits to the Khabarovsk refinery (owned by Neftegazholding). RBC was told about this by two sources in the government and an interlocutor close to Neftegazholding.
Khudainatov asked to provide this plant with the so-called regional coefficient, which has already received some refineries as part of the completion of the tax maneuver. The latter assumes a gradual zeroing of the export duty on oil and oil products and the growth of the severance tax in 2019-2024 (the bill on maneuver in August was signed by President Vladimir Putin). When the duties are zeroed, the refinery is deprived of the so-called customs subsidy, but for individual plants it was decided to return it through a refundable excise tax. At the same time factories located far from the sales markets received regional raising coefficients - an increased return excise. It is this privilege that is spoken in the appeal of the ex-head of Rosneft, RBC's interlocutors explain.
600 billion rubles. with a return
Thanks to the maneuver, the budget will collect 1.6 trillion rubles from the oil industry. additional revenues, and some of them - about 600 billion rubles - will return to companies, but they will be targeted, and therefore more effective subsidies, explained to journalists the director of the tax policy department of the Ministry of Finance, Alexei Sazanov.
The request to support the Khabarovsk refinery was considered in mid-July at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, who oversees the fuel and energy complex, told RBC's interlocutors. According to them, Kozak instructed relevant departments to work through this issue until September 1. "The question is in the study. Until September 1, we will submit a position, "the representative of the Ministry of Energy told RBC.
Double request
The regional upward ratios provided for by the tax maneuver law range from 1.05 for the Omsk Region and Altai to 1.5 for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Khakassia and depend on the remoteness of the plants from export markets. "Neftegazholding" asked to provide the Khabarovsk refinery with an increasing coefficient of 2 or "at least 1.6," RBC's interlocutor, close to the company, told RBC. This factory really asked to double the ratio, confirms the federal official. But "they immediately refused," he stipulated.
In 2017, the Khabarovsk refinery processed 4.7 million tons of oil. With allowance for a refundable excise tax for an average plant of 3 thousand rubles. per ton and the raising factor, which the Khudainatov asks for (1.6-2) during the completion of the tax maneuver in 2019-2024, it can additionally receive 30-50 billion rubles. (taking into account the gradual reduction of export duties for five years and the corresponding increase in the refundable excise tax), and then on 8.5-14 billion rubles. in a year, has calculated the analyst of Raiffeisenbank Andrey Polishchuk.
In addition to the Khudainatov plant in Khabarovsk Krai, the Komsomolsk refinery of Rosneft is located, so if the request of the first plant is approved, the second plant will raise the coefficient, the two interlocutors of RBC warn. While the regional coefficient is the only incentive for processing, therefore, supporting Khudainatov, it will not work around the plant of Rosneft, adds one of them. The Komsomolsk refinery processed 6.4 million tons of oil in 2017 and can expect to return about 40-67 billion rubles from the budget. in 2019-2024 and at 11.5-19 billion rubles. per year (in the case of an increase factor), says Polishchuk.
The Ministry of Finance considered the falling income due to the benefits for the Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk refineries too big and opposed this idea, one of the interlocutors of RBC tells.
Khudainatov in 2012 lost to Igor Sechin the post of Rosneft president, becoming his deputy, and in late 2013 he left the company to start his own business. Two familiar businessmen call him "Sechin's companion." In late 2016, the latter asked the government for privileges for the plants of Rosneft in seven regions, as well as for the Khabarovsk refinery. But then they did not get support.
Gasoline without premium
The Khabarovsk refinery initially did not receive an incremental factor, because it is located close to the ports, and support was given to the factories far from export markets, the director of the tax policy department of the Ministry of Finance Alexey Sazanov told journalists. This is true, but the plant supplies light oil products only to the domestic market, says a source close to the company.
The plant receives oil through the ESPO, so the raw materials are quite expensive, explains the interlocutor of RBC. Until now, this was offset by a premium to the retail price, which was significantly higher than in the European part of the country. But because of the containment of fuel prices (due to a sharp jump in prices for gas stations in late May, the government required oil companies to fix them), the premium almost disappeared and the Khabarovsk refinery was in a difficult situation, he adds.
The European price premium has indeed declined, Maxim Maxim Nazarov, the analyst at Reuters, confirms: if in March the liter of AI-92 in the central part of Russia cost 37.8 rubles, and in the Far East - 42.4 rubles, now prices are 41.5 and 43.6 rubles. respectively. According to him, the mark-up of the gas station to the wholesale price for fuel in the Far East is now about 5.5 rubles. per liter - this is roughly equal to the average cost of retail operators in Russia, that is, Far Eastern gas stations almost do not earn on sales.
Other oil companies can subsidize some factories at the expense of raising coefficients for refineries in other regions, and Neftegazholding has no such opportunity, since Khabarovsk refinery is the only plant of the company, says a source close to it. The situation with this plant was special, therefore it was decided to consider its support separately, outside the maneuver, he explains. The Khabarovsk refinery now has no problems that need to be addressed with the help of raising coefficients, the federal official is sure. But the decision on it will be made by the government, the source says.
A representative of the Ministry of Finance told RBC: "The law on completing the tax maneuver was adopted, it specifies the parameters for providing raising coefficients." The representative of Kozak declined to comment.
Gref's support
To support the Khabarovsk refinery, Sberbank German Gref asked for instructions, says one of RBC's interlocutors. Sberbank is a major creditor of the Khabarovsk refinery: in 2013, it issued a 10-year loan to the plant in the amount of $ 700 million (44.5 billion rubles at the current rate). In July, Gref wrote to Putin that a tax maneuver in its current form could lead to an unrewarding investment in upgrading the refinery and even bankruptcy of a number of medium-sized factories, RBC sources said. Gref mentioned the Khabarovsk refinery among the bank's clients, says a source who saw the letter. In the spring, the head of Sberbank was worried that due to tax maneuver, the bank could become the owner of a number of oil refineries. The representative of the Savings Bank declined to comment.