1. Case summary: Russia used export taxes on oil after the fall of Soviet Union which caused a huge GDP declined. After that the new Russian government freed most consumer and producer prices and this abolished the state foreign trade monopoly. The export and the value add were proven as the largest sources of tax revenue for the Russian. Government reduced income tax after implementing this strategy. This strategy accelerate the GDP increase and the budget revenue doubled from 12%-24%. Only for this reason Russian fiscal balance had shifted from a deficit of 6% to a surplus of 9% of GDP. These proved that in Russia export duties and other taxes on energy producers provide the largest sources of tax revenue which is centralized in the federal budget.
Major Problems with the Oil Industry
In 1991, after a long period of economic and political stagnation, the Soviet Union collapsed. The energy industry contracted along with the rest of the Soviet economy. Oil production in 1996 was less than 6 million barrels a day – about half of pre-1990 levels. This contraction was partly due to the overall slowdown in the Russian economy that caused a decrease in energy demand. The energy sector also suffered because of the inefficiencies inflicted upon the Russian economy during the administrative-command system of the Soviet Union and the reluctance of post-Soviet governors of Russia to implement policies that would remedy these inefficiencies in an era of otherwise open market conditions. Like the rest of the Soviet administrative-command economy, the oil and gas industry of the former Soviet Union was managed in a highly centralized manner. The powerful Ministry of Oil Industry and Ministry of Gas Industry together with the State Planning Committee (Gosplan) set production quotas, established delivery plans, and drew up plans for investment and renovation. Oil and gas