Belarus, Kazakhstan won’t levy recycling duty on imported vehicles - Medvedev

Belarus and Kazakhstan will not levy the recycling duty on imported vehicles, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said after Friday negotiations with the Belarusian and Kazakh colleagues, ITAR-TASS reported.

"We reached a compromise. Our partners will retain the current tariff protection policy, and we will use this formula for a certain period of time," he said.

A source in the Russian delegation said that Belarus and Kazakhstan would keep tariff protection on the current level until their entry into the WTO. In Medvedev's words, a final decision "will protect our markets and will not create problems for our partners in the entry into the WTO."

He said Russia had introduced the recycling duty on imported vehicles due to its accession to the WTO and the related reduction of import duties. "They will bring in rubbish, they are already doing that and the scale will become enormous. We will have little chance to resist that, and, finally, that will impede the development of the domestic car industry," he said.

As for Russia's relations with Belarus and Kazakhstan after the accession to the WTO, the premier said the relations would not change. "Relations will develop on the same principles; there will be no change," Medvedev said.