On March 2, Minsk /BELTA correspondent/. The State Automobile Inspectorate of Belarus is ready for an increase in the number of registered vehicles due to the increase in customs duties on the import of passenger cars for individuals from July 1, 2011. This was announced today at a press conference by the Deputy Head of the Main State Automobile Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, Maksim Podberezkin, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. Maksim Podberezkin emphasized that Belarus has always been ahead of neighboring countries in terms of motorization. In the past year alone, the number of registered vehicles in the country increased by 250,000 units. "This is not just an additional burden on the infrastructure, but also a burden on the registration departments of the State Automobile Inspectorate," he noted. Nevertheless, the registration departments of the State Automobile Inspectorate are currently coping with their tasks. "While legislation obliges us to register a vehicle within 10 days, today the entire registration process is carried out on the day of application," emphasized Maksim Podberezkin. Currently, there are 37 registration departments operating in Belarus, three of which are located in Minsk. In the capital alone, about a thousand vehicle registration and deregistration operations are performed daily. It is worth recalling that the customs duty on the import of passenger cars for individuals in Belarus will increase by more than 4 times from July 1, 2011. The rate of customs duties and taxes on cars up to 3 years old with an engine capacity of 1.4 thousand cubic centimeters, valued at 8 thousand euros, will be 54% of the customs value, but not less than 2.5 euros per cubic centimeter. The current customs rate for new cars is 0.6 euros/cubic centimeter. Thus, the total customs duty on cars up to 3 years old will increase from 840 euros to 4,320 euros (based on value) or up to 3.5 thousand euros (based on volume). As for used cars aged 3 to 5 years with an engine capacity of 2 thousand cubic centimeters, the rate here will increase from 0.4 euros to 2.7 euros. The total duty will increase from 800 euros to 5.4 thousand euros. -0-

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