Sources: Govt plans to raise car recycling fee by 25–30% in 2021

MOSCOW, Nov 26 (PRIME) -- The Russian government plans to raise the recycling fee for all types of vehicles, as well as for special equipment by 25–30% in 2021, explaining this by the weakening of the ruble, sources in the car industry told PRIME on Thursday.

“They are going to increase the recycling fee by 25–30% for all types of vehicles, including special equipment,” one of the sources said, adding that the authorities explain this by a comparable weakening of the ruble, which lowers the aggregate trade barrier.

Another source confirmed it linking this with the end of the last active agreements on industrial assembly, which were an exception to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) rules, and the equalization of import duties due to this at a lower level.

“We were told that there are such plans (on the indexation of the recycling fee), but a formal decision has not been made yet. I do not think that this will greatly protect the market from imports – it is already well protected. Officially, we were told that this is due to devaluation of the Russian currency,” another source said.

The basic rate of the recycling fee in Russia is 20,000 rubles for passenger cars (including SUVs) and 15,000 rubles for buses and trucks.

The recycling fee was introduced in 2012, on the market it was always considered a compensation for the reduction of duties after the entry of Russia into the WTO. It has been raised three times since then.

(75.4727 rubles – U.S. $1)

End