MOSCOW, August 28 (RIA Novosti) -Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday the country’s Ministry of Industry and Trade has suggested implementing a large-scale “cash for clunkers” program to run from September through the end of the year to reinvigorate the automobile market.
“The Ministry of Industry and Trade suggests implementing a large-scale program of renewing the automobile market from September to the end of the year under the conditions of turning in old cars to be demolished or traded in with payment to buy a new one, car owners can get a discount for buying a new one from producers. This would be quite a serious stimulus in selling automobiles,” Medvedev said.
According to Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, the program seeks to sell more than 170,000 cars before the end of 2014.
Earlier in August, Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade announced that it is developing a program to renew the "clash for clunkers" program that would stimulate Russian automobile, shipbuilding and aircraft industries.
The previous Russian cash for clunkers program lasted for two years, from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011, allowing car owners to trade in vehicles that were more than 10 years old for a 50,000 ruble state certificate to by a new Russian-made car. The Russian federal budget’s spending on the program exceeded 16 billion rubles ($436 million), while automobile production grew from 600,000 cars in 2009 to 1.7 million in 2011.
