‘Yes, the president knows, prices were really high and additional profits were indeed generated,’ the press head of the Russian Presidency said and confirmed that Russian authorities are discussing this topic with representatives of the business sector.

Peskov told reporters that ‘it is hardly necessary to look for the guilty parties here, this is economic life: business makes money, the state receives taxes,’ he emphasized and clarified that ‘when there is some kind of imbalance, the state evens out this imbalance.’

Earlier on Monday, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said the income from the metallurgical sector in Russia increased several times in 2020; it received 100 billion roubles of excess profit and must return that money to the national budget.

ef/aph/agp/mml