Milk war with Russia replaced by combine harvester war

Director General of Rostselmash, a Russian manufactory of agricultural machinery, blamed Belarusian Gomselmash of unfair competition.

Valery Maltsev drew attention to “Belarus’s expansion” to Russia in an interview to news agency Interfax-Yug. “Gomselmash sold 777 grain combines and more than 400 fodder combines to Russia last year. But none combines of Russian manufacturers were sold to Belarus. The Belarus’s expansion is evident. I have to notice that their combines are not so good, unfortunately, but their prices are low. This price is dumping for the Russian market, but it the Belarusian manufacturer is supported by the Belarusian state,” Maltsev said.

The director general proved his words with the fact: in 2009, Gomselmash won an inner tender on producing about 2000 combines for the Belarusian agricultural sector. Combines cost 5.957 million rubles each, but the same model is sold to Russia at 4.65 million rubles. “Support of the won manufacturer is obvious, it allows decreasing exports prices,” the Rostselmash’s director general supposes.

Director of the Gomselmash marketing center Uladzimir Fralou didn’t see a reason in such statements. “It wasn’t dumping, our enterprises doesn’t receive any aid from the state. Prices of our machinery are at the inner market and Russia. The difference depends on a type of an engine. We are puzzled at the statements of the Rostselmash’s director general,” he said in an interview to “BDG”.

The dispute on the status of Belarusian agricultural machinery in Russia has a long history. Belarusian manufacturers want to get the status of national producer in Russia that would allow them to apply for Russian state support programmes. This status was given only to the equipment, assembled in Russia. In 2009, Belarus agreed with Russia that 11 Belarusian enterprises working in Russia will get beneficial conditions for entering the market.

In real fact, the Belarusian enterprises got only preferential regime of applying for governmental procurement, the same Russian manufacturers have. The Belarusian enterprises don’ have access to other measures of state support such as credit recourses of Rosselkhozbank and Rosagrolizing able to give the Russian companies recourses for buying Belarusian machinery. According to the Russian minister of agriculture Elena Skrynnik, it is purposeful to use credit resources of Russian banks to buy tractors, combines and other agricultural machinery produced by Russian enterprises.

Russian manufacturers think actions of the Russian government should be aimed at defence of national companies from cheaper Belarusian imports. “The only possible cooperation scheme is one for one: you sell combines to us, and we sell the same number of combines to you,” Maltsev said.