Fuel limits when going abroad are not intended to be lifted

The abandonment of the limitations on the fuel amount allowed to be carried beyond the borders of the Customs Union in private vehicles is not planned to be implemented in Belarus.

The government’s decree number 753 is not so far planned to be abandoned in Belarus, they sated in the State Customs Committee of the country. The decree regulates the frequency of crossings of the Belarusian portion of the Customs Union’s external border by citizens on their private vehicles without paying customs duties for the fuel in the fuel tanks.

“No revision of the decree is planned so far, at least we do not have such information. There were no assignments sent from higher authorities on that matter either”, - the head of the department of the organization of customs control of the State Customs Committee Uladzimir Arlouski at a press-conference in Minsk on Tuesday, Interfax reports.

He noted that the decree was issued by the government in the conditions when a practice was established in the country of massive private exports of petrol and diesel fuel because of the price difference in Belarus and the neighboring countries. Apart from losses for the national economy this practice led to the growth of waiting lines at the border.

“We saw, that the limitation of the number of travels was an effective mechanism.The people, who previously took fuel for sale abroad, can now only leave Belarus not more often than once in eight days”, - Arlouski added.

We would remind that in the summer of 2011 the decree number 753 was adopted in Belarus, according to which fuel was excluded from the list of the goods for private use in the case if a person crossed the external border of the Customs Union on a private vehicle, or in the case of crossing the border by such a vehicle regardless of who was actually driving it.

The exclusion of fuel from the list of the goods for private use implies having to pay customs duties, when taking it abroad, in the amount provided by the regulations for the respective group of goods.

Initially the frequency of the travels was limited to once in five days, but later this was changed to eight.

Also a decree was adopted, which introduced limitations on fuel exports in heavy haulers. Particularly, sale limits were introduced for them at the gas stations near the border for petrol and diesel fuel. This was subsequently abandoned.

In the meanwhile, at the Belneftekhim concern they noted that the limitation measures, aimed at preventing fuel outflow, did not bring about the desired effect.