Putin calls for oil tax cuts, lower inflation

RUSSIA: Russia's Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for lower taxes on oil companies and for returning inflation to below 10 percent in a speech on the economy ahead of his expected appointment as prime minister.

He also said Russia would become a major financial centre and a more active player on world markets, as well as overtake Britain to become the world's sixth largest economy by the end of 2008.

"The revenues of oil companies are not low but you and I take a significant part of their profits into the budget.... We need to lower taxes in this sector of the economy," Putin told lawmakers before they voted on his nomination as premier.

Putin was replaced as president by his longtime aide Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday and was expected to be confirmed as prime minister without any difficulty on Thursday.

He called for tax cuts in other sectors of the economy such as construction and education. Moscow, Thursday, AFP