Worldwide News 2013.09.06.
Clear downward trend on the Russian combine market – “Western manufacturers even more seriously affected due to protectionist measures”
Frankfurt am Main, September 5th, 2013 – The Russian market for combine harvesters declined significantly by more than 20 percent in the first half of this year. “Western manufacturers have been affected by this trend even more seriously than the Russian ones”, stated Dr. Bernd Scherer, Managing Director of VDMA Agricultural Machinery, Europes largest industry organization. For Western brands, the market decline can be quantified with a loss of about 28 percent. “The reason for this mismatch is quite clear. Massive protective duties make it very difficult for Russian farmers to invest in innovative agricultural machinery. In short: These protectionist measures are discriminatory as they do not comply with WTO commitments”, says Scherer emphatically. Since February 25th, a safeguard duty of 27.5 percent has been applied on the customs value of combine harvesters and modules produced by Western manufacturers in Russia. However, this special protective tariff is currently being suspended since July 2013 due to the veto imposed by Kazakhstan.
