V. Semashko: Russia's accession to the WTO will not have a negative impact on the work of Belarusian industrial enterprises

April 12, Mozyr District / Vladimir Matveev - BELTA/. Russia's accession to the WTO will not negatively affect the performance of Belarusian industrial enterprises. This was stated today by First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko, responding to journalists' questions in the Mozyr District, BELTA correspondent reports. As a result of joining the WTO, Russia will reduce import duties by up to 5% on some items, while on others, an increase is possible. However, these changes will not create serious problems for Belarusian industrial enterprises in the machine-building sector. "We are not very concerned about Russia's accession to the WTO. Of course, the situation may slightly worsen on some items, but nevertheless, I am not worried about it," the first deputy prime minister said. Vladimir Semashko noted that, for example, the Belarusian combine harvester KZS-1218 currently costs about $180,000 in equivalent terms. At the same time, the cost of similar Western-made models is $320-350,000. "There is still a certain price margin, so we are not afraid of these 5%," the first deputy prime minister said. "We need to expand our product range, improve characteristics, enhance the price-quality ratio, and focus on organizing service," Vladimir Semashko added. -0-