SMM8, 17 Feb: four main Russian government departments are opposed to a plan drawn up by a senior aide to the Kremlin aimed at collecting more taxes from mining and chemical companies, according to people familiar with the matter.

The government's official position will be finalized by the cabinet, but the opposition from these key government departments is an initial victory for mining companies.

The Russian Interfax news agency (Interfax) today quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Andrei Belosov, the top economic aide to the Russian government, plans to meet with industry representatives on August 24.

Belosov described the tax plan as a way to increase funds from the state budget. According to a letter from (Belousov) (Belousov) obtained by Bloomberg (Bloomberg), the mining and chemical industries benefited from higher commodity prices and the devaluation of the rouble, not as a result of tax increases. If the tax increase is passed, the tax will generate 500 billion roubles a year.

But the Russian government has made several commitments this year to keep the business tax unchanged. Russia's finance ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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