08:53, 18 October 2017, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency, by Julia KOSTENKO
Gray imports from China problem grows after accession of Kyrgyzstan to EEU
08:53, 18 October 2017, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency, by Julia KOSTENKO
The problem of gray imports from China grew after Kyrgyzstan’s accession to Eurasian Economic Union. Kazakh media reported with reference to the Minister of Finance of Kazakhstan Bakhyt Sultanov.
According to him, because of the shadow economy at customs, EEU loses $ 300 million. The gray imports from China in the future turn into exports to the countries of EEU. «The problem has been present for a long time, we are carrying out relevant work with our colleagues on information exchange, on the development of the corresponding infrastructure,» Bakhyt Sultanov stressed.
There are certain advances in this direction, but, unfortunately, within EEU framework we observe the growing problem since the accession of Kyrgyzstan. Here we see a significant flow of imports into this country due to a lower level of customs control.
Bakhyt Sultanov
He noted that gray imports cause direct damage to the competitiveness of the relevant industries and enterprises, and also affects direct losses on customs duties.
This is indicated by the figures: if we take the customs statistics for 2016, according to Kyrgyz statistics, imports from China amounted to about $ 1.5 billion, and according to the statistics of China — $ 5.6 billion. The discrepancy is more than $ 4 billion.
Bakhyt Sultanov
Kazakhstan annually loses about 20 billion tenge. «It is not difficult to calculate that more than 100 billion tenge ($ 300 million) is the damage only from direct underpayment of duties to the budgets of EEU countries. If we recalculate the flow of the import that came to Kazakhstan and eventually returns after customs clearance to neighboring republics, direct losses will be $ 60 million, or 20 billion tenge per year. These funds can be used for building 40 schools and kindergartens,» he concluded.