Thanks to non-oil budget income, Russia has entirely offset the negative effects from lower oil prices in 2016, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at the end of 2016. What’s more, if oil prices keep their current levels, the country could turn into the black by 2019 or even earlier. The deficit-free scenario for 2019 uses base-line international oil prices of US$45 a barrel, so growth could come earlier if the OPEC agreement leads to prices consistently higher than $50, closer to the US$60 mark or, who knows, possibly even higher. Siluanov has already said that as long as prices stay at US$50, Russia’s budget will get additional revenues of about US$16 billion (1 trillion rubles). In late December, President Vladimir Putin went further, saying that every US$10 rise in oil prices will bring into the federal budget around US$28.6 billion (1.75 trillion rubles) plus another US$12.23 billion (750 billion […]