Gazprom faces $8 billion hit from taxes, price curbs

Russia, looking for new revenue sources and keen to curb inflation before elections, plans to hit Gazprom with a double whammy of a tax increase and a lower gas tariff rise that would cost the company $8 billion. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is considering running in the 2012 presidential election, told his government last month to consider scaling back planned increases in regulated tariffs for household utilities like gas and electricity.
The move was mainly aimed at Gazprom, which was to have been granted a 15 percent increase in domestic gas prices in 2012. Now the government wants to peg tariffs to inflation, which it targets at 5-6 percent next year. "If tariffs are tied to inflation, Gazprom may lose 73 billion roubles ($2.6 billion) in 2012," Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina told reporters on Thursday, expressing concern that the cost could affect Gazprom's investment plans.