The Federation Council discussed state support for domestic shipbuilding - there are questions for the Ministry of Finance
Focus on domestic potential is a priority task for the shipbuilding and ship repair industry of the Russian Federation.
Leading Russian experts and representatives of regional government bodies discussed this at a meeting of the Federation Council, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
At the meeting, issues of import substitution, financing and modernization of facilities, development and implementation of serial projects in the ship repair industry, the most vulnerable ship-industrial area under sanctions, were raised.
“Until recently, about 15% of fishing vessels carried out ship repairs at domestic enterprises, the majority - abroad. And, based on the current situation, (the ship repair industry - ed.) will, for various reasons, move towards the Russian Federation,” reports Deputy Head of the International Cooperation Department of the Federal Fisheries Agency Dmitry Kremenyuk.
He agrees with his colleagues, emphasizing the need to build ship docks for the civilian large-tonnage fleet.
“At 103 domestic enterprises, the main problem is the availability of docks. When the waiting list reaches 3–4 months for repairs, the shipowner [falls] out of economic life. We are talking about planned repairs that need to be done every five years with docking - and every 2,5 years. Naturally, civil ship repair, in a sense, is not a priority. We don’t have to compete, but we line up with our military colleagues. The problem exists,” confirms Kremenyuk.
Deputy Director of the Department of Shipbuilding Industry and Marine Equipment Alexey Isachkin reports that today, a set of measures for import substitution in the ship repair industry is being developed.
“Capacity is capacity, and it is also necessary to ensure a sufficient volume of ship components. In our country, due to sanctions pressure, the list of possibilities for foreign supplies has again narrowed somewhat. We, together with leading industry enterprises, conducted a comprehensive analysis of those vessels that are currently being built and are subject to certain dependence, and formed a list of 60 items that now need to be promptly considered and implemented. As part of this list, they announced an additional need for 2022 billion rubles in 7 for this event.
We are working on this mechanism with the Ministry of Finance; there is understanding on the part of our colleagues. We are working on separate resolutions on this support measure, so that the implementation of this measure is aimed both at creating ship components and ensuring its serial production in the future,” adds Isachkin.
In turn, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy Konstantin Dolgov quoted a fragment from the material of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation for the current meeting.
“Regarding zero VAT. This is about the question of who does what. So, colleagues from the Ministry of Finance, literally right before the meeting itself, told us that “everyone is busy and there is no one to direct.” But in vain.
I quote: “We note that the losses of the federal budget, in the event of the adoption of the proposal to establish a tax rate for VAT on the implementation of work on maintenance and repair of ships, with an increase in the share of these works carried out by Russian ship repair enterprises, for example, up to 60% of the possible potential volume, budget losses could amount to more than 150 billion per year.”
That is, the Ministry of Finance sees this as a factor working against the adoption of this proposal.
I am addressing my colleagues from the Ministry of Finance in absentia. First you still need to reach 60%! Despite the fact that we say “15%” there, somewhere – “30%” for certain positions. What if it's 100%? There will be even more than 150 billion. lost income. And what about the fact that this will be revenue to the budget - regional and federal? And what will this be the development of our industry? That is, this is not taken into account?
The logic is very simple: if we stimulate our industry, our lost income will increase. Strange logic. Income that still needs to be earned in order for it to appear. Of which this tax will be paid. More precisely, it would be paid.
That is, let's further stimulate the Norwegian or South Korean shipbuilding and ship repair industry? I don’t want to offend anyone, history is a multifaceted matter, but some countries that are now leaders in world shipbuilding did not exist thirteen years ago. And today it is the leader. Where our customers' orders are placed. And our financial authorities have the following logic: “Let’s not do anything, we won’t stimulate because of the shortfall in income.”
And in general, they further write that “VAT is not the main factor.” The main thing is the prices of the products. So let’s do nothing and wait for prices to go down?!” – the senator was indignant.