Economics ministry promises support for automobile assembly plants
MOSCOW. July 11 (Interfax) - Industrial assembly of automobiles will get the same support as leading Russian carmaker Avtovaz after Russia joins the World Trade Organization, Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov said at a briefing on Tuesday.
"I don't want to talk specifics right now, but we are in fact not only talking about Avtovaz. I've already said that, in my view, the automobiles that are assembled here under the industrial assembly regime, at Russian plants, by Russian workers and specialists, with a high degree of localization - and virtually all of our industrial assembly now has a high degree of localization of more than 50% - are also Russian automobiles, although they're produced under foreign brands," Belousov said.
Earlier Tuesday, at the State Duma session during which the protocol on Russia's accession to the WTO was ratified, Belousov said that the government is drafting a list of automobile models assembled in Russia that will receive support through the mechanism of government procurements. Russia managed to assert the ability to support Russian industry through this mechanism in negotiations to join the WTO.
