Russia to tighten tax-break controls for businesses as budget deficit hits 5.7 trillion roubles

Russian authorities plan to tighten oversight of companies benefiting from tax breaks and strip some of them of state support. The move is driven by a growing federal budget deficit, which reached 5.7 trillion roubles (approximately 268 billion PLN) in the first half of the year. Officials say the tax breaks are draining tens of billions of roubles from public finances.