Planned objective with the given incentives for import of second-hand vehicles and additional six months for re-registration of vehicles with foreign registration plates is achieved, since it provided for the citizens to buy vehicles and for the vehicle stock of the country to be renewed by improving their average quality with higher eco-standards – Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Zoran Stavreski said today at the joint press conference with the Director of the Customs Administration Vanco Kargov.
 
In the past months, after the adoption of Government’s measures, total of 51,225 vehicles were imported, 5,480 out of which were new and 45,745 were used ones.
 
This means that over 51,000 citizens, i.e. families in Macedonia could buy a vehicle, whether used or a new one. Total import of vehicles experienced four-fold increase while import of second-hand ones increased by 15 times. Net Budget effects amounted to EUR 11 million, Stavreski said.
 
He explained that citizens, through the government measures, used the benefits offered to them, whereby they paid total of EUR 700 by imported vehicle rather than EUR 2,800.
 
– Government does not stop here. Encouraged by the success of these measures, we plan to continue to reduce the customs duties in 2011 as well, i.e. to additionally reduce the costs, by introducing zero-percent customs duties on import of EU vehicles, Vice Prime Minister Stavreski pointed out.
 
Kargov explained that the measures mainly reduced excises, in particular, on used vehicles from EUR 900 to EUR 43 at average, and customs duties from EUR 380 to EUR 117. EUR 6 million on the basis of customs duties, and total of EUR 5 million from excises were generated in the Budget. As for the vehicle structure, there was huge decrease of the interest in low-volume vehicles up to 1,000 cubic meters from 9.2% last year to 3.2 percents this year, compared to the increase from 4.7% to 26.3 percents for higher-volume vehicles.
 
Around 10,000, out of the total 46,000 imported second-hand vehicles, are vehicles already driven on the roads throughout Macedonia Kargov said.
 
As regards the usage of second-hand vehicles with foreign registration plates following 30th September, the owners can drive them six months in a year on the territory of the country, after which respective proscribed measures will apply.
 
– When a vehicle is imported in Macedonia it is registered, at the same time, the citizen entering the country with such vehicle should precisely define where he lives, whether in Macedonia or in another country. This does not mean that vehicle with foreign registration plates cannot be driven in Macedonia but the measures will rather refer to those not adhering to the provisions for temporary import of vehicles, Kargov said responding to a journalist’s question. (MIA)
