PRESS: Russian cable makers ask authorities for import duties

MOSCOW, Mar 20 (PRIME) -- Russian manufacturers of fiber optics and cables have asked the government to impose a 15% import duty to fend off Chinese competitors, but connection operators oppose the move, business daily Kommersant reported on Monday.

The daily cited a letter by Deputy Digital Development Minister Andrei Zarenin as of March 13 to operators MegaFon, MTS, VimpelCom, ER-Telecom, power supplier Rosseti, and relevant associations.

The official wanted the market participants to consider the suggestions by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on raising import duties for cable products above the country’s WTO obligations from the current zero.

Zarenin asked the operators to estimate the share of imported products on the market and report about an opportunity to replace foreign products with Russian ones.

Optic Fiber Systems CEO Andrei Nikolayev told the daily that the Russian market of fiber optics as a raw material for cables amounted to 7.5 million kilometers, or 4 billion rubles, in 2021. Optic Fiber Systems has 30% of the market and the rest is in the hands of foreign makers.

The executive said the market shrank to 6 million kilometers, or 3 billion rubles, in 2022 because the operators cut expenses on infrastructure development, but the market may recover to 7.5 million kilometers in 2023.

(76.6044 rubles – U.S. $1)

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