MOSCOW: Russia’s oil and gas revenues in October more than doubled to 1.635 trillion roubles ($17.63 billion) from 739.9 billion roubles in September, finance ministry data showed on Friday, thanks to a cyclical rise in profit-based tax.

The oil and gas sales, which have accounted for more than 28% total Russian budget proceeds so far his year, also rose by 27.5% from October 2022 as the government did not pay the so-called damper payment to the oil refiners.

The abolition of the damper payments, which were later reinstalled, contributed to fuel shortages that forced the government to introduce a ban on fuel exports on Sept. 21. The ban has been eased since.

The oil and gas revenues still declined in January - October, year on year, by 26.3% to 7.211 trillion roubles.

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Russia’s energy revenues have been squeezed by Western sanctions, such as price caps and an embargo on seaborne oil exports, and by the closure of the Nord Stream gas pipelines to Europe, which were blown up in September 2022.

Investigators have yet to establish who was responsible for the blasts.

The finance ministry budgeted for a fall in oil and gas revenues by 23% this year to 8.86 trillion roubles. It expects a budget deficit of almost 3 trillion roubles, or 1.8% of gross domestic product (GDP).