“Russia’s consumers are very loyal consumers of our dairy products despite the fact that they are slightly more expensive,” Aleksandras Izgorodinas, an analyst with the Lithuanian Industrialists’ Confederation, said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Customs Union members, including Russia, have increased their import duty on cheese to 20 percent, from 15 percent, and the import duty on curds and butter to 18.3 percent, from 15 percent, effective from April 1. In 2014, the duties on dairy products would have to go down to 16.7 percent, and in 2015, to the initial 15 percent, in line with Russia’s commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the analyst said.
Izgorodinas also pointed out that the exports of cars to Russia were recovering and attributed it to the running out of car stocks accumulated in the Customs Union countries, in particular Kazakhstan and Belarus, before the increase in duties.
