Ministry of Foreign Affairs named the countries, which use restrictive measures in trade with Belarus. According to Foreign Ministry, the majority of restrictive measures against Belarus was applied by Russia (12 from 28). In addition, the Russian side violates international obligations by duties on petroleum products, noted in the ministry.
In the ministry stated that restrictive measures, applied by Russia, make «the greatest economic harm, due to the volume of trade and the proximity of economic ties between our countries».
«The current oil export duty is an especially considerable exclusion from free trade regime, and levying from January 1 of this year export customs duties on certain categories of petroleum products supplied to the Republic of Belarus from Russia violates the international obligations of the Russian Federation», reads the statement of Belarusian Foreign Ministry.
«Russian domestic gas price is much lower then gas price in Belarus, even taking transport costs into account. It creates a significant cost advantage for Russian companies and their products on both domestic and Belarusian market and, in fact, it is a frontal subsidy to Russian economy», noted in the statement of the ministry.
In the ministry they believe that provision of exclusive right to export gas for Gazprom is also restriction, and it is a measure of non-tariff regulation of foreign trade.
In Russia there created unequal competitive conditions for Belarusian manufacturers, MFA
In addition, in Belarusian Foreign Ministry stressed that «in Russia there are unequal conditions for the registration of wholesale prices limits for medicines of Belarusian and Russian production». «It reduces the cost competitiveness of Belarusian medicines export to the Russian market, because new conditions set preferences to Russian business entities», said in the ministry statement.
«For example, in Russia there created unequal competitive conditions for Belarusian manufacturers participating in tenders of public procurement system. There is a limitation of Belarusian products’ access to Russian system of public procurement in terms of setting price preferences of 15% only for the suppliers of Russian goods. Pointed preferences are applied only to limited list of Belarusian goods», emphasized in Belarusian MFA.
There are technical barriers of Belarusian products’ access to the Russian market, MFA
The foreign ministry stressed that there also introduced restrictions on access of Belarusian automobile and municipal machinery, produced in Russia, to the purchase by federal executive authorities and the subjects of the Russian Federation with the use of subsidies.
«There is a ban on the distribution of favorable credit conditions in the Russian banks with backing of interest rates and the purchase of agricultural equipment on lease. This measure is one of the prohibited import substitution subsidies in the interpretation of the WTO», said in the statement.
«There applied restrictions on access of Belarusian automibile and agricultural machinery for their sale to agricultural producers and agricultural consumer cooperatives on lease».
In Foreign Ministry also stressed that «the procedure of Russia’s state veterinary and laboratory control of antibiotics content in Belarusian products of animal origin, as well as the absence of genetically modified micro-organisms and melamine is organized in such a way that it creates technical barriers for Belarusian products’ access to the market of Russia».
