The transition period mentioned in the law on Kaliningrad SEZ will be asked to be extended until 2012

On Monday, May 17 at the hearings on the implementation of the Federal Law "On the Special Economic Zone in the Kaliningrad Region" in the State Duma of Russia a number of amendments to the Law will be considered. According to the press service of the Kaliningrad Regional Duma, it is proposed to extend the transition period for those entities who carry out their activities under the "old" law on special economic zone, by another 5 years - until 2021, as well as to extend the eligibility of the transition period for individuals - individual entrepreneurs.

In addition, the Kaliningrad delegation will propose to exclude the provision of the federal law which requires freight forwarders whose trucks went through customs clearance in the Kaliningrad region to necessarily cross the territory of the region when transporting cargos from Europe to Russia. (Note: Several years ago customs duties on imported vehicles cleared for the territory of the Kaliningrad region were much lower than if one wanted to clear his/her vehicle for the whole territory of Russia. According to the law the former now have to cross the territory of the Kaliningrad region when transporting cargos from Europe to Russia, even though in many cases it doesn't make any sense in terms of logistics).

Currently, the list of goods prohibited for placement under the customs regime of the free customs zone, and all the changes to the federal law are set by the federal government. It is proposed to make changes in the list in consultation with the Government of the Kaliningrad region. Such an initiative would help to avoid cases where Kaliningrad businessmen begin the production of goods, which then have suddenly become ineligible for the list.

Prepared by: Kaliningrad Regional Economic Development Agency based on materials of rugrad.eu