Filenews 4 January 2022 - by Eleftheria Paizanos
Taxes went up by €748.4 million into government revenues until November 2021, compared to the same period in 2020. According to data from the Treasury, in 2021 the eleven-month period ended with receipts of €5.84 billion, compared to €5.09 billion in 2020.
In fact, the data up to November 2021 is particularly optimistic as Government staff estimate that throughout 2021 it may have reached the target set in the state budget, in which it had budgeted revenues of €6.47 billion. Specifically, in November 2021, €587.5 million entered the funds compared to €477.2 million. in November 2020, however, receipts did not reach those of October 2021, which hovered around €706.6 million.
Receipts until November
In detail, from January to November 2021, direct and indirect taxes, which amounted to €4.86 billion, from the total receipts of €5.86 billion, gave a big boost to the state's revenues. Specifically, the receipts from direct taxes, i.e. income tax, property tax, capital gains tax and the special contribution for defence, reached €2.02 billion, compared to €1.65 billion last year. Moreover, since the imposition of indirect taxes, i.e. VAT, the state until November 2021 received €2.83 billion, compared to €2.59 billion in the same period of 2020.
Based on the data of the Treasury, revenues from the supply of services and the sale of goods amounted to €229 million, compared to €169.2 million in the eleven months of 2020. At the same time, last year the state also received €130.5 million from rents and royalties (€106.5 million in 2020) and €258.3 million from transfers (€230 million in 2020). In addition, €44.5 million. was the amount of revenues "not otherwise classified", in fact with the corresponding period of 2020 to observe a decrease, as at that time the receipts had reached € 240.4 million. Also, sponsorships amounted to €288.8 million. (€75.7 million in 2020), other operating income at €6.6m. (€5.4 million in 2020) and interest income was €19.7 million (€25.9 million in 2020). Finally, the receipts from the investments amounted to € 2.3 million compared to €1.09 million in 2020.
Russian gas disposal remains problematic
The quantities of natural gas from Russia to Germany and from there to other EU countries are still reduced, as the Yamal-Europe pipeline also flows inwards to the east, from Germany to Poland, for the 14th consecutive day, according to data from the German network operator Gascade.
The volume of gas directed east reached 5.9 million kilowatt-hours (kWh/h) at the Malnov junction, on the border with Poland, the figures show.
Exports via the Yamal-Europe pipeline account for one-sixth of Russia's annual exports to Europe and Turkey.
Russia's Gazprom has not closed capacity to extract gas through the pipeline, the results of the auctions show. The company closed a capacity of 8.3 million kWh/h through the pipeline for January at an auction last month.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin said last week that Germany is reselling Russian gas to Poland and Ukraine instead of marketing it, blaming German importers for the reversal of the flow on the Yamal-Europe pipeline, and the skyrocketing prices.
The volume of Russian gas passing through Ukraine to Slovakia via the Velke Kapusani border crossing fell further yesterday. The predetermined volume of natural gas yesterday fell to 275,827 MWh, the lowest level since February 24, 2021, compared to 375,740 MWh yesterday, according to data from Slovak network operator Eustream.
