Russia does not support the raising of taxes in oil and natural gas industry for the next 5 to 6 years, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said Thursday.

Speaking to reporters, he said if an opportunity for lowering taxes arises "the government would do everything possible to stimulate economic activity".

Russia is facing a slowly declining output of oil, its main source of the foreign income, as companies are reluctant to invest in largely untapped fields in the Arctic and in Eastern Siberia.

However, Russia has introduced tax breaks for the companies ready to explore oil and gas offshore, mostly in the Arctic, which has already resulted in three major international deals with Russia's state-controlled oil company OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS).

Write to Ira Iosebashvili and Alexander Kolyandr at Ira.Iosebashvili@dowjones.com