MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Cheap imports may pose threats by displacing local products - that is why Russia stands up for the interests of its producers and prioritizes import substitution, Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk said.
"Cheap imports can certainly pose a threat by displacing the products of local producers, reducing the level of employment and income of the population, and slowing down economic growth. In this regard, we are striving first and foremost to be on the side of the interests of our producers, giving priority to import substitution and strengthening our economic and technological independence," he said.
According to Overchuk, in order to solve this problem, as well as to boost the development of production, economic ties, and trade between the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), a support mechanism has been launched in the form of subsidizing the interest rate on loans issued by banks for the development of industrial cooperation projects involving three or more EAEU member states.
"I would like to say that the first two fairly large projects have already been approved, and options for extending this mechanism to the agro-industrial complex are being considered. That is why I urge Russian industrialists and entrepreneurs, together with their partners from the EAEU member states, to make more active use of this already existing support mechanism," the Russian Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.