Interfax Russia reported Russian Union of Industrialists & Entrepreneurs RSPP head Mr Alexander Shokhin said that Russian currency regulation needs to be liberalized as much as possible so as to support remaining exporters and companies should not be penalized for things like not repatriating foreign currency earnings on time. Mr Shokhin told Interfax “Right now, despite the essential elimination of mandatory sales of forex earnings, the repatriation requirement still exists and it needs to be urgently eliminated, of course. Problems arise foremost for sectors that were oriented toward exports and are now forced to dramatically reduce them, including steelmakers.”Mr Shokhin said “These companies exported more than half of their products. And in the world, as we know, there is excess steel capacity, and as soon as we're removed from the market it could be forever, someone else will take this niche and it will be fairly difficult to return to these markets.”He added “It is necessary to find new markets, including domestically. The very same steel products can also be used in Russian construction in large amounts. But, while the drop in exports, say, is 30 million tonnes, construction can absorb a maximum of 5 million tonnes. It's clear that these steel companies will still be pressed. And this means that we need to think about infrastructure projects that can absorb labor and provide orders for the very same steel products, construction materials and so on. In other words, we need new drivers of economic growth.”
Interfax Russia reported Russian Union of Industrialists & Entrepreneurs RSPP head Mr Alexander Shokhin said that Russian currency regulation needs to be liberalized as much as possible so as to support remaining exporters and companies should not be penalized for things like not repatriating foreign currency earnings on time. Mr Shokhin told Interfax “Right now, despite the essential elimination of mandatory sales of forex earnings, the repatriation requirement still exists and it needs to be urgently eliminated, of course. Problems arise foremost for sectors that were oriented toward exports and are now forced to dramatically reduce them, including steelmakers.”Mr Shokhin said “These companies exported more than half of their products. And in the world, as we know, there is excess steel capacity, and as soon as we're removed from the market it could be forever, someone else will take this niche and it will be fairly difficult to return to these markets.”He added “It is necessary to find new markets, including domestically. The very same steel products can also be used in Russian construction in large amounts. But, while the drop in exports, say, is 30 million tonnes, construction can absorb a maximum of 5 million tonnes. It's clear that these steel companies will still be pressed. And this means that we need to think about infrastructure projects that can absorb labor and provide orders for the very same steel products, construction materials and so on. In other words, we need new drivers of economic growth.”
