MOSCOW, March 29 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian government bill on providing tax holidays to companies working in the country's mineral sector could get through parliament before it takes its summer recess, a senior member of the upper chamber said Wednesday.
"We will receive and pass the tax holiday bill before summer," said Viktor Orlov, the chairman of the Federation Council's natural resources committee, adding that this would be Russia's first piece of legislation on tax and investment privileges.
The bill will provide a seven-year tax holiday for mining companies embarking on projects to develop freshly discovered deposits in European Russia and East Siberia. The Cabinet is now putting finishing touches to the proposals before submitting them to parliament for approval.
Orlov also suggested that the government move away from today's flat mining tax toward a rate that would vary depending on production costs and on how much of a deposit's mineral wealth had been tapped.
