OREANDA-NEWS. August 15, 2011. Taxes on extracting potash salt and oil in Belarus have been equalized with those used in Russia, Vladimir Varaksa, deputy director of the geology department of the Belarusian Nature and Environmental Protection Ministry, told a press conference Thursday.

He added that the increase in taxes on potash salt and oil extraction was not related to the crisis on the Belarusian currency market because mineral developers pay taxes in Belarusian rubles. He attributed the increase to the need to enable equal operation terms for Belarusian and Russian potash and oil companies.

It was reported earlier that on July 19 President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed decree #320. The decree provides for replacing the flat rate tax on oil extraction (3,103 Belarusian rubles (Br) per tonne) with a rate calculated in U.S. dollars and used on the basis of the average monthly prices for Urals oil variety on global markets. The decree also provides for raising the tax on potash salt extraction from 972 rubles to 12,240 rubles per tonne.