Assistant of the President Andrey Belousov suggested that Vladimir Putin withdraw 513.7 billion rubles. from metallurgists, producers of fertilizers and "Sibur" as super profits for 2017. The funds are needed by the budget for the implementation of the May decrees, his letter says, a copy of which is available to RBC.

The authenticity of this letter from RBC has been confirmed by three sources in the companies that are mentioned in this letter. Putin put the resolution "I agree" on this letter on July 28, 2018, it follows from the document. This was confirmed by one of the interlocutors of RBC. However, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov negatively answered the question of RBC, whether Putin approved this initiative.

In the letter Belousov informs that in 2017, thanks to market conditions, metallurgical and chemical exporting companies managed to earn over 1.5 trillion rubles. profit before interest, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA), and the tax burden in these industries was lower than in oil and gas, he points out, 7 versus 28%.

In 2016, the government has already taken a number of measures to withdraw about 600 billion rubles to the federal budget. additional revenues from oil and gas exporting companies, which they received as a result of the devaluation of the ruble "over the past two years," Belousov recalled.

Following the example of oil workers

The idea to increase revenues to the budget from the oil and gas industry by means of an increase in the mineral extraction tax came to the Ministry of Finance in 2015. In 2016, the budget received through raising the severance tax for oil workers and Gazprom 300 billion rubles. And in 2017 - 320 billion rubles. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance initially sought to raise more funds from oil companies. In September 2015, the agency proposed to make changes in the calculation of the rate of severance tax for oil, which would allow in 2016 to increase the collection of the budget by 609 billion rubles. (in 2017 - by 525 billion rubles, in 2018 - by 476 billion rubles.) But this proposal was rejected.

"In world practice, the seizure of super profits generated by market conditions and independent of the actions of company management is spreading not only to the oil and gas industry, but also to other resource industries," the presidential aide said. He proposes to take "super profits" from metallurgists and chemists "taking into account the sanctions restrictions, as well as the need to preserve investment opportunities."

The appendix to Belousov's letter contains a list of 14 metallurgical, mining and chemical companies, including Evraz, MMK, NLMK. In case of withdrawal of "super profits", the main burden will fall on "Norilsk Nickel" (114.2 billion rubles.), ALROSA (67.28 billion rubles.) And "Sibur" (65.23 billion rubles.). These figures are based on an analysis of the profitability of companies compared with the oil and gas industry, their revenue and the amount of tax burden, explained in the letter.

The existing tax system does not create conditions for additional seizures of super profits, Belousov notes. As one of the interlocutors of RBC told, the Ministry of Finance instructed to develop a mechanism for such seizures. The representative of the department redirected the request of RBC to Belousov's office. His representative did not answer the question.

Two specialized agencies - the Ministry of Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Energy - also participate in the development of the mechanism, one of RBC's interlocutors said. After the companies mentioned in Belousov's letter receive their proposals, they will prepare their position, he added.

A representative of Uralkali told RBC that the company had not yet received this document. Representatives of other metallurgical, mining and chemical companies listed in the letter declined to comment.

Analyst S & P Global Ratings Sergey Gorin told RBC that the implementation of such an initiative will negatively affect the dividends of companies. "If the state takes this step, we expect that the dividend payments will be adjusted accordingly, as many large companies tie dividends to the cash flow," he explained. "This will lead to a recession, the curtailment of all investment programs and the loss of investors," the source in one of the companies mentioned in Belousov's letter is skeptical.

Not enough 8 trillion rubles.

President Vladimir Putin formalized the goals set in his Address to the Federal Assembly on March 1, after a formal inauguration, in the new May decree until 2024. The document, signed on May 7, identifies 12 priority projects that the government should develop or adjust before October 1. This is demography, health, education, housing, ecology, safe and high-quality roads, labor productivity, science, digital economy, culture, small and medium-sized businesses, and exports.

To implement this decree, an additional 8 trillion rubles is required. for six years, said Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Regarding the sources of these funds, Putin said: "From the growth of the economy will be additional income." In addition, according to him, we need to "look closely" at the macroeconomic policy and the tax system.







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