OREANDA-NEWS The Russian government wanted to tighten control over the accrual of customs duties when importing cars through the EAEU countries. The corresponding instruction was given to the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, the Izvestia newspaper reports.

The authorities are going to strengthen control over the correct accrual and payment of payments for a number of other goods due to frequent underestimation of the cost and the use of other "gray" supply chains from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The EAEU members are offered to create a single control mechanism and the possibility of additional accrual of customs duties by April 1, 2024. Relevant departments may be required to report once a month on the average cost of imported goods to the territory of the Union members so that the cost of imported cars is not underestimated during import.

"This eliminates the measures taken in the Russian Federation to develop domestic production, as well as reduces revenues to the federal budget," the authors of the document note.

According to Autostat, by April 2023, the share of new cars imported to Russia from Kazakhstan was 12.6 percent, from Belarus — 3.8 percent, Kyrgyzstan — 3.4 percent, Armenia — 3 percent. Used cars were also imported more often from Armenia (18.8 percent), Belarus (12.5 percent) and Kyrgyzstan (2.7 percent). At the same time, 70 percent of electric cars imported to Russia were cleared in Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

"There is almost no adjustment of the customs value and it is possible to receive benefits during the customs clearance of cars. This affects the Russian automotive industry: if direct import can be significantly cheaper than local production, then it is impossible for Russian manufacturers to organize certain tax—free schemes," explained Andrey Reznikov, managing partner of Motorinvest.

According to Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, stricter control over compliance with customs rules and additional duties may hit car owners: a car cleared with violations may already be resold several times, and claims and a requirement to pay additional duty will be presented to the final owner of the car, he explained.

Mikhail Osetrov, vice President of the Union of Auto Experts and Appraisers, co-founder of AutoExpert, urged Russians not to wait for the cost of cars to decrease. At current price levels, any promotions are possible, but cars cannot fall in price from five to four million rubles. This is impossible due to the fact that a lot of factors are reflected that do not allow sellers to move in price, for example, taxes, customs, transportation, he explained.