Russian govt vows to support oil producers

The Russian government will support major oil producers and tame consumer inflation, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said Monday.

Russian oil output will not fall in the next few years and will stay stabilized at the 2014 level, as the government would support the oil companies, including Russian state oil company Rosneft, Dvorkovich said.

"The output of Russia's traditional oilfields actually decreases, but new ones have started producing. Also we'll support (oil producers) with tax benefits," TASS news agency quoted Dvorkovich as saying.

Russia expected to produce 525 million tons of crude oil this year, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in September.

Dvorkovich highlighted that the government would support big oil companies, "Rosneft first of all."

Rosneft in October applied for additional financial support from the National Welfare Fund to make up for losses incurred due to sanctions.

Meanwhile, Dvorkovich promised that the government would tame consumer inflation.

By the end of October, growth of customer prices in Russia amounted to 8.4 percent and food prices alone grew by 11.4 percent in September.

Admitting that inflation has been higher than forecast due to rapid ruble depreciation, Dvorkovich vowed that the government would take prompt measures to prevent food price hikes before New Year holidays.

Dvorkovich insisted the embargo on food import imposed by the Russian government to retaliate Western sanctions did not play significant role in the price hike.

In early August, Russia announced ban on food imports from the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia and Norway for one year.