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Russia to boost support to non-energy exports
March 11, 2013, 6:31 pm

[Government Press Office]

Medvedev says that hi-tech exports should not rely solely on state sources of financing [Government Press Office]

The Russian government will boost state support for non-energy exports in a bid to diversify its raw-material-based economy, says Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s prime minister.

“Our goal is to ensure state financial support for at least 13-15 per cent of Russian non-energy exports by 2018,” Medvedev told a government meeting on state support for hi-tech exports.

In 2011, the state granted support for just 0.6 per cent of such exports, stated the prime minister.

Medvedev said the Russian government wants to boost non-energy exports by 60-70 per cent in the next five years.

And create favourable conditions for exporters, including support in the form of state guarantees and export contract insurance comparable in scope and quality with other countries.

The Russian government should continue its work to simplify and make cheaper administrative procedures for exports, ease exporters’ access to credit facilities, eliminate excessive customs operations and improve foreign exchange and export controls, Medvedev said.

He stressed that hi-tech exports should not rely solely on state sources of financing, as progress in this field depends primarily on companies’ innovation-based activity.

“We must understand ourselves what we can promote on international markets,” Medvedev said.

“We need to be prepared for work in a highly competitive environment and our proposals for foreign buyers and consumers should contain not only new scientific developments but they must also be advantageous by price.”

Ria Novosti