Moratorium on zeroing out fuel damper payments to Russian oil companies expires

MOSCOW. May 4 (Interfax) - The moratorium on zeroing out fuel damper payments - a measure that allowed oil companies to count on budget payments despite rising domestic fuel prices, which had been in effect since October 2025 - has expired.

It was decided that this measure would not be extend, although its prolongation for several months or immediately until the end of the year had previously been discussed, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told journalists on Thursday.

"Given the current situation, we have decided to remain within the framework of the current tax legislation for now," Novak said when answering a corresponding question.

"If there is a need for this, a decision will be made separately then," he said. At the same time, Novak said that the decree allowing the use of additives in the production of motor fuels will be extended.

As reported, in autumn last year, President Vladimir Putin introduced a moratorium on reducing the fuel damper to zero lasting from October 2025 to May 1, 2026. This decision was made amid high fuel prices on the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX) due to planned and unscheduled refinery repairs.

Before the introduction of the moratorium on reducing the fuel damper to zero, it was taken into account that if wholesale fuel prices in Russia rose too much and deviated on average per month from the prices established in the Tax Code (by more than 10% for gasoline and 20% for diesel), then the damper was not paid for that month. This situation arose twice. At the height of the price crisis on the fuel market in September 2023, oil companies did not receive damper payments from the budget due to high exchange prices for both gasoline and diesel fuel. Oil companies were left without the gasoline damper in August 2025.

The damper mechanism has been in effect in Russia since 2019. The budget pays the damper as a type of subsidy to oil companies to keep domestic fuel prices down when export netbacks are high. If the difference between the export cost of fuel and the indicative domestic price (established by law) is positive, meaning that exports become more profitable than supplies to the domestic market, then the state pays oil companies; if the difference is negative, oil companies pay into the budget.