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Russia bans export of semi-finished leather

The measure is introduced for the period from November 30, 2015 to May 30, 2016

MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree introducing a temporary ban on the export of semi-finished leather from Russia. According to the document published on the official website of legal information, the measure is introduced for the period from November 30, 2015 to May 30, 2016.

As TASS reported earlier, on August 12 it became known that the Russian government could extend a temporary ban on the export of semi-finished leather for another 6 months.

The previous ban expired on November 25, 2015. The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia prepared the new draft decree. Earlier, the Head of the Ministry Denis Manturov said that this measure increased the load of the Russian factories and gradually increased output with higher added value. According to him, with Russia entering the World Trade Organization, export duties in the leather and footwear sector have significantly decreased and ad valorem components were canceled, which lead to a shortage of raw materials due to the increase in deliveries abroad.

The Ministry was also in favor of a ban on export of raw hides due to the sharp increase in exports of raw materials from Russia on the background of the fall of the ruble. This resulted in shortage of hides in the domestic market. However, later Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Evtukhov told journalists that the economic justification for a ban on the export of Russian raw materials for the production of leather was not enough. According to him, the problem laid not so much in the growth of exports, but in the livestock population. Evtukhov said this problem needed to be seriously considered together with the Ministry of Agriculture.