DUSHANBE, July 4, 2013, Asia-Plus — By Russian government’s decree an export duty on dark and light oil products for July has been raised on average by 3.0 percent.
The export duty on dark and light oil products, except gasoline, has been raised from US$237.2 in June to US$243.60.
Meanwhile, an export duty on Russian gasoline has been raised from US$323.40 in June to US$332.20.
We will recall that Tajikistan was exempted from paying Russian tariffs on oil and gas exports from 1995-2010 and Russia cancelled Tajikistan’s tax exemption on May 1, 2010 that resulted in gasoline prices rising in the country. A sudden spike was reported in May 2011, when export duty for Russian gasoline rose 44 percent as compared with April.
On October 5 last year, the Ministry of Energy and Industries of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation signed a memorandum on the conditions for the delivery of Russian oil products to Tajikistan.
Tajik Minister of Energy and Industries Gul Sherali and Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak signed an agreement on duty-free Russian oil product deliveries to Tajikistan in Moscow on February 6, 2013.
Under this agreement, the sides consider and endorse the indicative fuel balance for the next calendar before October 1 of each year. Fuels delivered in addition to the indicative fuel balance will be liable to export duty.
Russian oil products delivered to Tajikistan in the volumes not exceeding those agreed on indicative balance are not subject to re-export to the third countries. This ban also applies to Russian oil products delivered to Tajikistan from other member nations of the Customs Union.
Under the indicative fuel balance endorsed for 2013, Russia is expected to deliver one million tons of oil products with 70 percent of them being gasoline and diesel fuel, free of duty to Tajikistan this year.
According to the statistical data from the Customs Service under the Government of Tajikistan, 144,594 tons of oil products have been delivered to Tajikistan over the first five months of this year. Russia has accounted for 38.6 percent of Tajikistan’s fuel imports over the report period, Kyrgyzstan – 39.2 percent, and Turkmenistan – 11.1 percent.
