Russian authorities are ready to consider amendments to the tax policy with regard to the metallurgical industry, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said in an interview with the RBC TV Channel, Trend reports with reference to TASS.
"We have a free market, but the state has every opportunity to set taxes in such a way that it will take away from them [metallurgical companies] what they received (excess profits) after behaving this way. I think we will do it," Belousov said.
According to him, raising the mineral extraction tax (MET) would be more effective in this case than introducing a damper.
"The classic way to deal with such a gap between domestic and world prices is an export duty or a modified export duty, such as a damper," he said adding that he is against introducing such instruments against metallurgists.
"It is better to increase the MET, because the markets are congested, and a number of our fellow competitors, for example, the Americans, and Europeans too, are working on countervailing measures or have already introduced them against our exporters. This is an import duty, "Belousov said.