“So far I don’t know real examples of production relocation”

Against the background of the crisis, the flows of goods imported into the EAEU began to be redistributed from Russia and Belarus to other countries. Against this background, is it worth waiting for the relocation of production and which projects of the union remain relevant in the changed conditions, Kommersant was told by the Minister of Industry and Agro-Industrial Complex of the EEC Artak Kamalyan.

— Over the past six months, have you observed a change in traffic flows through the EAEU? Do more goods really go, for example, through Kazakhstan and Armenia, go through customs clearance there?

– Oh sure. This can also be seen in customs payments. Compared to last year, imports through Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan increased significantly. And we are talking about completely legal actions. No one will risk bringing sanctioned goods.

– Has the distribution of revenues by duties changed a lot?

I wouldn’t say it’s significant. Considerable growth is observed for Armenia as a country with a small economy. But this does not affect Russia much.

— To what extent did the redistribution affect production capacities? The authorities of Kazakhstan regularly talk about the relocation of projects from the Russian Federation. Do you see the potential in maintaining this way in the countries of the union of competencies and investments?

— Indeed, the President of Kazakhstan at the Eurasian Forum, which was in Kyrgyzstan, made such a proposal. Because the automobile industry enterprises that used to work in Russia, one way or another, provided the entire EAEU market. Theoretically, this is a working mechanism, but only theoretically. In practice, a lot depends on the position of the parties, the companies that left: does it make sense for them to move to Kazakhstan, realizing that the products will go to all EAEU countries. So far, I do not know any real examples of production relocation.

– After parallel imports were allowed in Russia, did you see an increase in the import of cars or agricultural machinery by individuals, is there such data at all?

– Not. I don’t think that the volumes of agricultural machinery and cars can grow significantly due to parallel imports, at least not more than those that were brought before. Most likely even less. Of course, business is trying, looking for ways to saturate the market.

— Are the rates of customs payments for individuals less than for legal entities? Do they mainly carry individuals now?

— Look at what. We raised the duty-free bar for individuals to €1,000. But if, for example, they import a car, they pay. Unless, of course, it’s an electric car.

— On the subject of electric vehicles — what is the “Eurasian electric bus” project, which was talked about a lot in the summer? How relevant is it really?

— This is an initiative of the government of Belarus. Our unit is now doing just that, we held a series of meetings with countries, agreed that in the near future they would give their requests and proposals – who and what components are ready to produce. The Belarusian side will send its specific proposals, the commission will prepare a draft document of the union, with which we will fix the lists of the most demanded components in the EAEU. This is a stage for the production of electric buses.

The Belarusians have certain competencies in this area, just like the Russians. It is difficult to say how close the cooperation will be. But we are now generally working on the issue of concessional financing of cooperation projects, and this is quite a revolutionary thing. The electric bus, if the countries agree on cooperation, can become one of the pilot projects.

– Will there be any competition for funding?

– I think it’s too early to talk about a competition or any other form of support. Just the other day, the heads of government of the EAEU countries approved the main approaches to the sources and format of financing industrial cooperation projects. The essence of our idea, supported by the prime ministers, is to subsidize the rate on loans and credits issued by financial institutions and banks to launch supranational industrial projects with integration potential. The criteria for selecting projects and financial institutions, as well as the mechanism for using funds, have yet to be worked out in detail, after which I will be able to answer your question.

– Is the “Eurasian electric bus” comparable to those made by KamAZ and GAZ? Or is it, in fact, a trolleybus with increased speed?

By the way, the Belarusians have the production of trolleybuses with an increased range based on the MAZ chassis: when the line ends, they remove the “ears” and move on. In fact, this is a good decision: when cities are developing rapidly, and there are trolleybus lines there, there is no need to spend money on extending them. But I think that the new project will have a large power reserve – 300-400 km. How far they will reach and with what they will come out – it is difficult to say yet.

— Which of the EAEU countries showed interest in the electric bus?

— Electric vehicles are of interest to all countries. They understand that the market is moving in that direction. It is no coincidence that last year we adopted zero duties for 2022–2023.

– Everywhere, except Russia.

– Except for the Russian Federation, yes, the Russians did not want to. The rest of the countries were given quotas of certain volumes, and, by the way, this year the volume of imports of electric vehicles into the territory of the EAEU, excluding Russia, has increased two to three times. If you import an electric car within the quotas to one of the EAEU countries, then in any case there is no permission to re-export it to Russia.

Imports are going at a very high pace, people are starting to get used to it. The difference in the cost of “fuel” for an electric car and a car with an internal combustion engine is still very significant, especially in countries such as Armenia, which does not have its own energy sources. The cost per 100 km on gas is 3,000 drams, on gasoline – 5,000 drams, on electricity – 700 drams. There the segment is developing rapidly. I think that in the near future a significant share of cars in the EAEU market will be occupied by electric vehicles. Moreover, the union is considering a green agenda, where one of the directions is the development of electric transport. Another thing is that in some country it can happen faster.

– Nevertheless, the strategy for the development of the automotive industry, which is being discussed in Russia, involves the localization of internal combustion engines and gearboxes for it …

— I am not ready to comment on internal strategies. There is no such thing in the EAEU. Nobody, of course, excludes the use of internal combustion engines. But now the main focus both in the world and in the union will probably be on the development of electric vehicles.

— Are there any projects on electric vehicles in the countries of the Union? The Belarusian authorities have long wanted to localize their production in the country on BelGee.

“They are quite active in this direction. I was at the enterprise, and then there were plans that in a year or two they would start assembling electric vehicles. But so far, according to my information, there are none yet, although some prototypes have already been released.

– Any problems with logistics and supplies of components?

“They make mostly Chinese cars. There were logistical problems with the supply of certain components from Europe. And with the delivery of spare parts from China, which make up the bulk of this production, there are no particular difficulties.

— Is there a problem with the availability of any types of equipment for farmers in the EAEU now? For example, sugar beet harvesters or especially powerful tractors…

— The agricultural machinery industry is quite well developed. We have large and good manufacturers – the St. Petersburg Tractor Plant, Rostselmash, the famous Minsk Tractor Plant, Gomselmash, which produces good combines. But, of course, there are problems. For example, in the EAEU, in principle, self-propelled beet harvesters are not produced. In the past and the year before last, the Belarusians made an attempt to organize assembly shops, but produced single samples. To produce and be effective, to make investments, you need a sufficiently large volume of orders. Even Russia plus Belarus does not provide it. So far, the harvesting is carried out on the existing equipment, although in the future there may, of course, be problems with spare parts for combines. Heavy tractors are effective in cleaning large areas and are used mainly by large agricultural holdings. And, for example, Rostselmash has a 583 hp model. With.

– One of the owners of Rostselmash, Konstantin Babkin, said that self-propelled machines for harvesting root crops can be replaced with trailed implements. Do you think this option is appropriate?

— No, I do not think that this is an effective replacement. In Soviet times, first there was a technique that mowed the tops, and then the one that dug. But this, of course, is not the 21st century. The harvest will not remain in the field, but this approach will not fundamentally solve the issue. Plus it will affect the cost. To do efficient harvesting at minimal cost, modern harvesters are needed.

Are there problems with the service already?

– This year I would not say that there are noticeable problems. Firstly, there were certain stocks – they managed to stock up even before the well-known events. Secondly, there are still no direct sanctions restrictions on the supply of agricultural machinery. To date, the problems are only logistical and financial. As a rule, consumers of equipment are located in the Russian Federation and Belarus, and sellers are in Europe, therefore, even if suppliers are ready to sell, it can be difficult to organize a financial chain.

– Are there any prospects for cooperation between the Russian Federation and Belarus in the production of components?

– In some things of mass consumption – yes. Again, the problem is scale. The Commission has repeatedly considered the issue of how not to import spare parts for imported agricultural machinery – for example, John Deere. There are a lot of factories that can produce them, and, moreover, three years ago, representatives of the company itself visited Belarusian enterprises and confirmed the high readiness of some. But the issue is volume. The domestic market is not enough to invest in machine tools, new equipment and technology.

— Even taking into account the huge parks of classic American technology?

– Yes. We have estimates of how much is needed. It turned out that some things are generally piecewise required. It was easier for John Deere to produce them, for example, in Turkey and deliver them to the Russian Federation.

Interviewed by Olga Nikitina