The Ministry of Industry and Trade will remove protective import duties after the lifting of sanctions

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has begun working on a set of rules that will apply to foreign companies if they return to the Russian Federation, a source in the department told Izvestia. He clarified that so far officials are only discussing ideas for this document.

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"The issue of the conditions for the return of departed brands to Russia must be considered individually in each case," the ministry replied to an official request from the publication.

For example, as the ministry stressed, the issue of the abolition of duties on goods from unfriendly countries "will depend primarily on the lifting of sanctions against our exporters."

"But, of course, we must proceed from creating additional preferences for those domestic companies that, against the background of the departure of individual brands, were able to quickly establish production and provide our retail with the necessary products," the Ministry of Industry and Trade said.

Currently, the EAEU has various duties on consumer goods. For example, since the end of 2022, increased tariffs have been applied for cosmetics and household chemicals from unfriendly countries, the ministry recalled. Their size is 35%, and they were introduced as a response to sanctions against Russia, but "they have also shown their effectiveness in terms of supporting our manufacturers."

Georgy Ostapkovich, Director of the HSE Center for Economic Studies and Economic Analysis, noted that the main constraints that have become painful for domestic exporters are financial. For example, this is the disconnection of companies and banks from settlements using the SWIFT international financial system.