Russia's Putin: Oil Firms Failed To Modernize Refining Segment

Russian oil companies have failed to live up to their obligations to modernize the refining sector, the country's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Friday.

"I say with regret that most of our companies haven't met their responsibilities to increase the depth of oil processing, even though they have taken full advantage of tax breaks from the government," Putin told oil industry executives and energy officials at a meeting in Kirishi in Northwestern Russia.

Putin said oil companies had given assurance that additional funds received from lower export duties were being invested into refining.

"In fact, that has unfortunately turned out to be far from the case. The qualitative upgrading of Russian oil refineries is not taking place," Putin said.

-By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]