12 April, Mozyr District / Vladimir Matveev - BELTA/. Russia's accession to the WTO will not negatively affect the operations of Belarusian industrial enterprises. This was stated today by First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko, who was answering journalists' questions in Mozyr District, as reported by BELTA correspondent. As a result of its accession to the WTO, Russia will reduce import duties by up to 5% on some items, while on others, an increase is possible. However, these changes will not create serious problems for Belarusian industrial enterprises in the machine-building sector. "We are not very concerned about Russia's accession to the WTO. Of course, the situation may slightly worsen for some items, but nevertheless, I am not worried about it," said the First Deputy Prime Minister. Vladimir Semashko noted that, for example, the Belarusian combine harvester KZС-1218 currently costs approximately $180,000 equivalent. At the same time, the cost of similar Western-made models is $320-350,000. "There is still a certain price margin, so we are not afraid of this 5%," said the First Deputy Prime Minister. "We need to expand our product range, improve specifications, enhance the price-quality ratio, and focus on organising service," added Vladimir Semashko. -0-

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