The Russian business environment barely had time to adjust to the VAT increase when government officials already started discussing the introduction of new taxes and the increase of existing ones, in order to save the budget from the collapse of oil and gas revenues, which accelerated sharply at the beginning of 2026.
The Russian Ministry of Finance has prepared a draft decree on the introduction of an export tax for diamonds, announced on Thursday by Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Moiseev. According to him, the measure is expected to be applied to “support” the domestic diamond polishing industry.
A day earlier, the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources, Konstantin Tsygankov, announced a coordinated decision to drastically increase the taxes charged to companies for environmental impact. In the metallurgical sector, these taxes will increase 9-20 times in the period 2026-2030, in the gold mining industry — 15-25 times, and in the oil and gas sector — five times. The base rate will be increased in stages: by 5% in the current year and up to 100% by 2030, writes the publication Kommersant.
The Ministry of Finance is also considering the introduction of a tax for marketplaces, applied to the import of large batches of non-food goods, stated earlier this week by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Roman Cekusov. In addition, the institution proposed to Vladimir Putin the legalization of online casinos and taxing them at 30% of revenues. Thus, the budget is expected to gain 100 billion rubles (approximately 1.1 billion euros).
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