Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will not have any negative implications for Serbia’s exports to that country.
Although the accession that took place on August 22, after 18 years of negotiations, will lower duties on imports to Russia for a third of products, Serbian goods will remain more competitive because 99% of the products are not subject to import duties.
However, it is interesting that Serbs in Russia annually sign and implement contracts worth more than the value of Serbia’s exports to that country. Unofficial estimates are that the annual turnover of Serbian companies in Russia amounts to few billion rubles, while the official statistics of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce say that the investments of our companies in the Russian Federation exceed $600 million at this moment.
The list of most significant revenue generators includes Hemofarm’s $32 million pharmaceutical plant, Sintelon’s $343 million investment in production and R&D, but also a $265 million contract awarded to Putevi Uzice to build an Olympic complex in Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
It is estimated that about 160 of our companies, mainly registered outside Serbia, operate in Russia at the moment. In addition to the ones already mentioned above, this list also includes ABS holding, PSP-Farman, Energoprojekt, Montinvest, Farmakom, Delta agrar, Banini etc.
Source SIEPA
