The Financial Times business daily recognized Russian companies as the main potential victims of the border carbon tax that Europe intends to introduce.

Russia is now the largest supplier of carbon-intensive goods to Europe. The publication interviewed a number of experts and calculated that the biggest surcharge under the new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will have to pay it to Russian exporters.

It is assumed that the tax will be imposed on the goods, imported into the EU, production of which does not comply with European environmental standards. At the first stage it may concern iron, steel, cement and fertilizers.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Alexander Kozlov has already estimated the potential damage from the new measures at three billion euros per year.

Last week, a meeting of the Analytical Club of the National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations named after E.M. Primakov of the Russian Academy of Sciences was held. At it, Alexander Grigoriev, candidate of economic sciences, deputy director general of the Institute of Natural Monopoly Problems, said that Russia is the leader in terms of risks from carbon regulation that is being pushed through by Europe.

According to him, it's not just about the oil and gas sector, which, even taking into account the challenging environment, accounted for 30% of all budget revenues in the first quarter of 2021.

"Why is this topic important for our country? It really is a risk for us. Exports of goods that are currently potentially subject to the new measure range from $58 billion to $74 billion. In absolute terms, we are a leader in terms of risks", emphasized Grigoriev.

Russian experts do not deny the importance of modernization of the industrial sector, but they point out that ecology is used to drive unwanted competitors out of the market. In this case, it is Russia which turns out to be the "undesirable".

The tax may come into force in 2023.