Starting mid-summer, Russia will prohibit import of right-hand drive passenger buses, minibuses and minivans with more than eight seats, as well as construction equipment, boom trucks and dump trucks.
An Invest Foresight expert believes that the new national standards contained in the Customs Union technical regulations will not have a serious impact on the Russian automobile market. However, Russia’s Far East will have to review its procurement policy.
First of all, ordinary car owners can relax. The new rules do not prohibit buying right-hand drive cars. Although there will be certain restrictions. Specifically, starting July 1, car buyers will have to deal with more paperwork and obtain a certificate of vehicle design safety that can only be issued by accredited bodies. The fee for such a certificate has not been revealed.
It should be noted that buying a used right-hand drive car produced outside Russia is already an expensive project. In addition to mandatory recycling tax, VAT, individual income tax, processing fee and excise duty, a future car owner must pay a customs duty of at least EUR 1.5 per cubic cm of the engine capacity – provided that the engine itself is not older than five years and has a volume of up to 1 liter. The customs duty can reach almost EUR 6 per cubic cm if the car is more than five years old and has a 3-liter engine.
At the same time, there are many right-hand drive cars is large in Russia: 7.6% of the entire number of cars, which is 4 mio. Most of them are used in the Far East where 8-9 out of ten cars have right-hand drive.
This measure will affect the car markets in the Far East and East Siberia, car expert Sergei Burgazliyev believes.
“On one hand, it can be seen as a measure to support Russian automobile plants. But, we don’t manufacture minivans, so it will have a negative impact on the market beyond the Urals. Overall, I think that these new regulations will not contribute to safety, it is just another fee,” Sergei Burgazliyev told Invest Foresight.