State to assume part of burden to comply with WTO auto assembly principles - Putin
MOSCOW. Nov 16 (Interfax) - The government will assume part of the burden of compliance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles regarding auto assembly, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said.
"During the process of Russia's accession to the WTO, we held long discussions on how we can build this work [auto assembly] in the future, so as to not let down our investors and to live up to our promises to them, and at the same time meet the WTO standards and principles on auto assembly," Putin said at a meeting with German business people.
"We have reached acceptable compromises. Part of the burden of meeting all our obligations to investors will be assumed by the Russian state," the prime minister said.
The government is doing this deliberately so as to increase the technological level of the auto industry and to provide our market with a modern competitive product, he said.
The decision to provide benefits to investors in the auto industry has fully justified itself, the prime minister said.
In 2011, Russia has become Europe's fastest growing auto market by sales, Putin said. "The prospects are probably the same. The market capacity is fairly large. Last year more cars were sold on the Russian market than in India. The Russian market capacity is far from being exhausted," he said.
