Russia looks to dump heavy excise tax on ethanol to stimulate production

In Russia, to help its ethanol industry achieve a 10% blend by 2020, the government is preparing to lift a heavy $1.62 per liter excise tax currently levied upon domestic fuel ethanol by year’s end. Such a move will stimulate production as the tax represented 90% of the production price, bring investors to the table to help ramp up production. The excise tax had been the government’s solution to ensuring vodka wasn’t produced under the guise of ethanol.