Russian TV manufacturers want to get into the register of TV devices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade

TV manufacturers are discussing with the Ministry of Industry and Trade the possibility of changing the requirements for entering these devices into the ministry’s register in order to gain advantages in government procurement. Increasing the localization of TVs is difficult. But experts believe that in fact this is not necessary; Russian manufacturers will soon receive a price advantage due to other government support measures. In addition, industry lobbyists are discussing zeroing out duties on components for televisions.

TV manufacturers and electronics suppliers are discussing with the Ministry of Industry and Trade the possibility of changing the requirements for the component base for inclusion in the Ministry’s register of TV devices, a market source told Kommersant. In particular, they are asking to lower the threshold for the share of domestic components. The discussion of the initiative was confirmed by Kommersant’s interlocutor among electronics manufacturers and NexTouch CEO Vladimir Krikushenko. Currently there is only one brand of TVs in the registry, “Kvant”. Kvant LLC and the Ministry of Industry and Trade did not answer Kommersant.

Member of the Korean Information Display Society (KIDS) Ivan Kulemanov believes that Russian manufacturers want to be included in the register to receive preferences in government procurement, primarily displacing South Korean vendors LG and Samsung, as well as Chinese companies that do not have factories in the country. If TV devices are included in the register, they will be subject to the “second wheel” rule in government procurement. It was introduced in 2021 and assumes that if several companies participate in the tender, the customer is obliged to choose a product included in the register of Russian radio electronics (see “Kommersant” dated September 22, 2021).

For now, state corporations and the public sector can continue to purchase televisions from foreign brands under Federal Law-223 and Federal Law-44, admits Ivan Kulemanov. However, he believes, due to the increased cost of logistics, the advantages of purchasing localized products and the planned disposal fee for imported models, the price offer of domestic manufacturers will soon turn out to be more attractive. Mr. Kulemanov suggests that, first of all, Russian companies are trying to compete with each other in this way, and not with foreign suppliers.

As Olga Dorovskaya, vice president of OCS Distribution, explained, now almost all TVs on the market are not able to comply with the point system of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which requires that no more than 70% of foreign components be used in the final device, and from January 1, 2025 – no more than 60%: “In the production of televisions, imported matrices from China are used; they account for 80% of the cost.” She clarified that using Russian processors “is problematic, since the software has not been tested on them and, due to their large size, it will not be possible to make the TV really thin.”

Vladimir Krikushenko, however, believes that the criteria of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the current edition “are realistically met and an increase in the level of localization from next year will also be possible thanks to the constantly growing production base of components in the Russian Federation.” “We are planning to launch a new production at the end of the year, which will increase the level of localization and provide the necessary components to all market participants,” Mr. Krikushenko assured, without specifying which components are produced in the country. Yandex (which presented its TV in the fall of 2022) declined to comment. Sber (released the TV in the spring of 2022) did not answer Kommersant.

According to Anton Guskov, a representative of the association of trading companies and manufacturers of electrical household and computer equipment RATEK (which includes Samsung, DNS, Huawei, etc.), she is discussing with the Ministry of Industry and Trade the simplification of the procedure for customs clearance of products supplied to specific enterprises producing televisions using SKD technology (semi -knocked down – SKD assembly). “When customs clearance of sets of spare parts, customs authorities often classify them not as kits, but as finished products and additionally charge the corresponding customs duty of 10%, but not less than €25.5 per unit of goods,” clarified Mr. Guskov. “We propose to omit duty to 0%, which will give a serious impetus to the development of production in Russia.”

Timofey Kornev