The head of AvtoVAZ advocated localization of cab cars

The head of AvtoVAZ, Maxim Sokolov, has supported the initiative to localize cab cars in Russia. Taxi transportation is beginning to be of strategic importance, so this industry needs technological independence, the top manager said on the sidelines of the Forum on Regulatory Policy of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Izvestia correspondent reports on February 25.

"If we talk about the use of localized cars in the cab industry, I assess it positively, and not only from the manufacturer's point of view. We have seen that not taking into account the use of localized, technologically sovereign means of transport can lead to irreparable consequences. What would have happened to our public transportation if 10-15 years ago we had not started using exclusively domestic samples of buses, trolleybuses, streetcars, trains in the subway? And there were attempts even to put cars produced in the territory of unfriendly countries into the subway. And what would have happened in this case? All public transportation would have stopped," Sokolov said.

The localization rules are in line with several goals of Russia's development - in matters of both security and technological sovereignty. In Moscow, cabs are already an integral element of public transportation, with more than 1.7 million trips per day.

"Here, too, the mechanisms that other forms of public transportation have successfully demonstrated in the history of our fatherland should be applied. I welcome that we will achieve some independence, autonomy and certainty here too. Those who will meet the requirements set by the government, the regulatory and legislative framework for localized cars will be engaged in this type of business regulated by the state," added the head of AvtoVAZ.

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The bill, which envisages giving the subjects of Russia the right to establish requirements for the level of localization of cars used in cabs, was adopted in the first reading on January 18 last year. The changes are necessary to minimize the risks of increased dependence of cab networks on imported supplies, and it will also provide additional stimulation of demand for domestic highly localized cars on the part of the cab industry, according to the authors of the bill.

On February 21, during a press conference at the Izvestia IEC on "Major changes in the cab market," Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy Artem Kiryanov said that the cost of a cab ride next year may increase by 15-20%.