Russian fiscal policy must change for Shtokman!
The Shtokman project is not economical justifiable with today’s Russian fiscal policy, says one of the main partners in the project.
Realization of the Shtokman project will require considerable tax relief from the Russian Government, says President of Statoil Russia Jan Helge Skogen.
Statoil owns 24 percent of the stocks in Shtokman Development AG, French Total owns 25 percent and Russian Gazprom 51 percent.
- The Shtokman project represents a completely new infrastructure in the Barents Sea, Skogen said at the Kirkenes Conference last week. – Establishment of this infrastructure requires enormous investments. A combination of these investments and the current Russian fiscal policy actually makes the project economic unjustifiable, Skogen states.
Read also: Russian expert: Norway will back out from Shtokman
Future project will benefit from the infrastructure that the Shtokman development will establish, and become more cost effective, Skogen says. In addition Shtokman will give large spin-off effects in the Murmansk region, like the development of the Snøhvit field outside Finnmark gave to the Hammerfest region.
- Snøhvit was realized with help from the Norwegian Government. It is very natural to draw comparisons between Snøhvit and Shtokman. Common for these two projects is that they need political support. If the Shtokman project is to be realized, it needs the support of Russian authorities, Skogen underlines.
The President of Statoil Russia also called for Norwegian authorities to share their experience from the Norwegian shelf with Russian authorities.
