Car prices to hike due to customs duties
If Belarus raises its duties to unify them with the Russian customs clearance fees, the costs of imported vehicles are likely to hike at 1.5 times. In the view of Mr. Surikov, the two countries have no other alternative after they signed a new trade and economic cooperation agreement on March 23…
The diplomat, however, would not elaborate on which of the two countries should change the duties. But, in the view of Zmicier Balka, a sales manager at Yukola-Moto-Center, an auto-house in Minsk, there is no need in the ambassador’s comments, because the answer is obvious.
“I believe that Russia will not play under Belarus, i.e. the Belarusian customs duties will be raised to match the Russian ones. The cars in Belarus will become more expensive,” he said.
Both in Belarus and Russia, the highest customs duties are levied on the cars “older” than three years. But, there are some peculiarities.
In Belarus, the duty is bound exclusively to the engine’s cc. If the engine is less than 2500 cc, transporters pay 3.5 euros per one cubic centimeter. If the engine is bigger, the cubic centimeter costs 5 euros.
In Russia, the customs duty rises proportionally to the cost of a car, making the vehicle much more expensive than the same brand at an auto-market in Belarus.
“The Russian duty is calculated not only from the engine capacity, but also from the cost of the vehicle. 50 percent is taken from the invoice plus the engine capacity plus excises and customs fees. This is how the cost is shaped,” Zmicier Balka told our radio.
It is also difficult to compare the duties for imported vehicles in Belarus and Russia, because the governments in the two countries pursued different aims. To unify the customs laws of the two countries will be even a more difficult task.
In the view of Zmicier Navicki, the editor with Auto-business Weekly newspaper, it will be a long and painful process.
“Lawmakers in Belarus and Russia pursue different aims. As far as I remember, in early 1990s when Belarus only started building an independent state, the duty amounted to around $10-100. It was very little.
The duties would steadily grow after every five years. It can be explained only by the profit-making desire of the government. Nothing more… There is no car-making industry in Belarus, so there is no need to protect the domestic market with duties,” Navicki told the European Radio for Belarus.
In Russia, the import of cars does not bring wild money like oil and gas exports. Therefore, it enjoys little attention from lawmakers.
“For them, it is pointless to draw attention to transporters. They pay their fixed duties anyway,” Navicki continues.
At the same time, the Russian car-makers keep monitoring thoroughly the Belarusian market, seeking a niche for the Russian cars, which are less competitive in terms of quality with the European brands.
“Naturally, things will turn better for the Russian businesses after the duties are raised. But, our people will object to the plan, because people have gotten used to driving good-quality European cars. They are hardly to be pushed to switch to Russia-made Ladas…
God help us not to face Moskvichs again…It will look like Cuba, when everybody will be patching their diesel Mercedes and driving them until they fall apart…
If an ordinary Belarusian will have to buy his diesel VW Passat for $8-9 thousand instead of usual $5 thousand, people will start getting discontent and asking their questions aloud.
So, it seems to me that the government will try to delay as long as possible the unification of the customs duties. Otherwise, the loyalty of Belarusians towards the authorities will disappear…If not disappear, it will definitely decline,” Navicki said.
Despite the seeming unpopularity of the unification, the government is likely to take use of the measure for their own sake, stirring a public excitement at car markets across the country.
Everyone who plans to buy a car in the near future will try to do it before the unification of customs duties. This, in turn, will give ground to optimistic reports by the Belarusian officials at the end of the year. The government will boast that the wellbeing of the population has improved so greatly that the citizens could afford buying two, four or six-time more cars against the previous year.
Personally, I would like the prices of cars in Belarus to remain affordable to buyers. At the same time, if the bold proposal by the Russian ambassador remains just beautiful words, having stirred another proof to the “Belarusian economic wonder”, I will feel sorry.
Photo by photo.bymedia.net
