One of four declined

Russia has declared motor vehicle war on Ukraine. As of September 1, a full disposal fee will be levied on motor vehicles supplied from Ukraine to Russia. A statement to this effect was made by Rustam Khakimov, deputy head of the Federal Customs Revenues and Tariff Regulation Department of the Russian Federal Migration Service, at a press conference in Moscow, UNIAN reports. Khakimov said that “the federal law sets a list of exemptions, and these exemptions are only for the Customs Union member states (Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan). I am not prepared to say if it is against the Free Trade Area regulations.” He went on to say that the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade is conducting further negotiations in this regard, and that disposal fee rates will be determined by a separate resolution of the Russian Cabinet in a matter of days.

Ukraine has proposed four options aimed at settling the export conflict. “We have suggested four options to the Russian Federation and I believe one of them will be accepted,” Minister of Economic Development and Trade Petro Poroshenko said during a briefing after a cabinet meeting. He noted that he had had talks with his Russian counterpart, Denis Manturov, and that they had agreed that the final solution to the problem would be found while renegotiating the issue.

At presstime an official involved in the Ukraine-Russia disposal fee talks told The Day that Russia had rejected one of the options: “It is about paying the disposal fee by clearing, so the Ukrainian manufacturer pays for the disposal of his products just as the Russian counterpart pays for his.” Russia did not like it.

On July 29, President Vladimir Putin signed a bill on levying a disposal duty on new and used motor vehicles. The Day has information to the effect that a fee to the time of 25-27 million dollars and one to the tune of 20-22 million dollars will be levied on Ukrainian KRAZ trucks and LAZ buses, respectively. The output of Ukrainian motor vehicles worth about 1.5 billion dollars will depend on the outcome of the talks. Experts estimate that the vehicle disposal fee, if imposed on September 1, will boost the price of Ukrainian vehicles in Russia by 10-12 percent, thus calling into question the competitiveness of the Ukrainian manufacturers.