Interrupted flight

President of the Institute, Marcel Salikhov, commented to the Expert Magazine increasing tax burden on commodity companies

«It is clear that the Ministry of Finance is concerned about resolving its problems, but such things further worsen the investment attractiveness in Russia. We need to think about reducing taxes and stimulating investment — unfortunately, everything is exactly the opposite in our country," said Marsel Salikhov.

What other ways to attract funds for the treasury could be chose by the authorities? One of them is temporary borrowing. According to some experts, Russia could increase its debt burden from the current 12–13% to 20–22% of GDP, enabling businesses to recover from the spring lockdown. Another way is to privatize property at market prices, which could also help to reduce the budget deficit. In the meantime, instead of that, the authorities have chosen to raise taxes. At the same time, the country’s economy has not yet shown signs of recovery. It is obvious that an increase in the tax burden will lead to a decrease in investment, staff reductions, and a decrease in profits. All this will become a brake for the economy that has not yet moved away from the lockdown.