"Punto" waits for Russian "da" - easier import of goods from Russia

Source: Politika Tuesday, 09.06.2009. 14:48
Comments
Podeli

Thanks to the broadened list of products that Serbia can export to Russian Federation free of duty, our companies may increase the export of goods to that market by minimum 100m EUR per year. According to expert estimates, Serbia's 3 billion USD worth of deficit in trade in goods with Russia will be a bit reduced in that way.

In addition to more favorable export, the recent Protocol on extension of the Agreement on free trade between the two countries also anticipates easier import of certain goods from Russia, primarily the products that are important to farmers: mineral and chemical fertilizers, tractors of over 90 kW, vacuum pumps, electric motors and electric generators, as well as housings for bearings.

According to the estimates of Radojica Sretenović, the Deputy Director of the Branch Office of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia to Moscow, the extension of the list of products that are freed from duty will automatically lead to growth of exchange of goods between Serbia and Russia.

– The foreign currency inflow will also be increased by about 25%. Serbia now has the opportunity for duty-free export of all drugs and soaps, floor covers, apple juices, fresh grape wines, refrigerators, freezers, washing and drying machines, wool fabrics, wooden and upholstered seats, office supplies, bed linens and confectionery products to Russian market. That will be of great use for our manufacturers whose incomes will be larger since they will only need to pay tax when exporting goods to Russia – Sretenović points out.

Rodoljub Drašković, the owner of company "Swisslion Takovo", who talked about growth of export to Russia with the partners from that country at the yesterday's meeting, agrees with Sretenović's statement.

– In spite of duties, we exported about 5m EUR worth of confectionery products to the market of Russian Federation in 2008. Now, when the duties are revoked, we can register annual incomes worth as high as 30m EUR – said Drašković.

Let us remind that the Agreement on free trade between Serbia and Russia, which was signed in 2000, liberalized about 95% of export but the effects were not satisfying, and that is why the decision has been made about extension of the list of products whose export is free of duty.

However, that list still does not include cigarettes, sugar, meat, TV sets, monitors, as well as automobiles, which is a bad news for Kragujevac-based "Zastava" since the people in that company has hoped for months that they will be able to export "punto" vehicles to Russian market free of duty. However, it is expected that the duties on these products will be reduced already in September.

Let us remind that the value of exchange of goods between Serbia and Russia amounted to about 4 billion USD in 2008, which was 44% more than in 2007. The problem lies in the fact that our country has huge deficit in trade in goods with Russian Federation because we import fuels from Russia. That is why Russia is still the leading foreign-trade partner of Serbia with the share of 15.3% in import and 5.11% in export.

(Note: complete text is taken over from newspaper "Politika" of June 9th, 2009)

Comments
Your comment
Full information is available only to commercial users-subscribers and it is necessary to log in.

Forgot your password? Click here HERE

For free test use, click HERE

Follow the news, tenders, grants, legal regulations and reports on our portal.
Registracija na eKapiji vam omogućava pristup potpunim informacijama i dnevnom biltenu
Naš dnevni ekonomski bilten će stizati na vašu mejl adresu krajem svakog radnog dana. Bilteni su personalizovani prema interesovanjima svakog korisnika zasebno, uz konsultacije sa našim ekspertima.