Vedomosti writes that at a budget meeting a preliminary decision was taken that the government could unplannedly raise excises on fuel, which would lead to an increase in its cost. The money is needed for additional financing of road construction in Kaliningrad and Crimea.

Vesti is told that the Ministry of Energy's letter to the Ministry of Finance and the government apparatus state that raising the excise tax by 50 kopecks could lead to a 1.5% increase in the cost of a liter of fuel in retail. That's about 60 cents. There are also market risks of price growth until the end of 2017 by 2.8 rubles per 1 liter.

It is noted that when indexing for inflation, the average price of fuel in 2018 may exceed "psychologically important" 40 rubles.

"Vedomosti" clarifies, with reference to federal officials, that the increase can go in two stages - 50 kopecks from January 1 and July 1. According to preliminary estimates, budget revenues will be about 60 billion rubles. Representatives of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Transport, Deputy Prime Ministers Arkady Dvorkovich and Dmitry Kozak did not respond to the request or refused to comment.