State support for automakers could drop by quarter by 2020 - paper
MOSCOW. Nov 8 (Interfax) - The Russian Industry and Trade Ministry intends to substantially reduce the amount of subsidies provided to automakers, the paper Izvestia writes on Thursday.
"State support of automotive producers with budget funds will drop from sixty billion to forty-five billion rubles before 2020," the paper says, citing ministry materials submitted to the government.
At the end of last month, the Industry and Trade Ministry sent the Russian White House materials for a government meeting dedicated to the sector's development in World Trade Organization conditions. The document contains data on the amount of subsidies to Russian automakers to offset some of their costs (up to 90% of the Central Bank refinancing rate) of interest payments on credits taken for investment projects, as well as on anti-crisis credits taken in 2009-2010.
According to the document, subsidies should amount to 3.9 billion rubles in 2012, to 4.8 billion rubles in 2013, and to 5.6 billion rubles in 2014. From 2015 to 2020, another 31 billion rubles in state support for the automotive industry will be provided. The total subsidy amount before 2020 is estimated a more than 45 billion rubles.
Earlier plans called state support for the sector of up to 60 billion rubles by 2020.
That has changed, according to Izvestia, and the annual distribution of subsidies - where the government had earlier planned its main budgetary spending for 2012-2013 - now the maximum amount of subsidies is to be moved to 2014.
In addition to the reduction of subsidies to automotive producers, the ministry has adjusted financing for programs of auto loans to private individuals. The program, involving partial interest-rate subsidizing for such loans, was ended last year. Payments to banks will continue until 2014.
The ministry has lowered the volume of payments to lending organizations from the earlier planned 6.4 billion rubles to 6.1 billion rubles. This year, the subsidizing of auto loans was reduced from 3.3 billion to 3.2 billion rubles, and next year goes down from 2.1 billion to 1.7 billion rubles. Then, the plan is to increase them from 1 billion to 1.2 billion rubles next year, Izvestia reports.
