According to the European Union, Russia has infringed on the rights of European companies over the past few years, which has led to their losses of such an amount.
The essence of the claims is that Russian state-owned companies regularly publish tenders for the purchase of various goods and services.
For example, in 2019, the total cost of these tenders was about 23.5 trillion rubles, or 290 billion euros. This is a significant amount — up to 20% of Russian GDP.
At the same time, the interests of European companies in the conduct of state and commercial purchases of the Russian Federation are not primarily thought of, they complain in Europe.
For example, a number of preferences are often offered for goods and services of our own production in such tenders.
In addition, contracts often imply an understatement if a Russian development is purchased. It can be significant: up to 15-30%.
Finally, the Russian import substitution program puts European, as well as American, producers at a disadvantage even more.
For example, there are restrictions on the import of IT technologies and software, as well as agricultural imports.
All this makes it difficult for foreign manufacturers to enter the Russian market on the basis of fair competition.
What does the EU plan to do to protect its interests?
Back in the summer, he complained about this state of affairs to the WTO — the World Trade Organization.
This was followed by a proposal to create a special commission, which will determine whether there has been a violation of international norms by the Russian Federation.
For the first time, this proposal was rejected by Russia, which assured that it was not violating anything.
But on December 20, the EU sent a second request, and the commission was created as a result. It is planned that it will include representatives from the United States, China, Australia, Switzerland, Canada and Ukraine.
At the same time, as noted by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, all EU requirements boil down to Russia revising and changing its legislative norms and requirements, as well as algorithms for holding tenders that do not benefit foreign companies and deprive them of income …
There is no talk of payment of compensation or any fines, since the WTO format does not provide for such forms of influence on participants.
At the same time, as noted by the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, Western countries, in particular the EU, themselves actively violate the principles of the WTO.
For example, the unilateral imposition of anti-Russian sanctions is illegal from the point of view of such principles. And this, in fact, is the reason why Russia is forced to take measures for import substitution.
As the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade was assured, they are ready for consultations on this issue. “We will defend our procurement rules within the framework of the relevant judicial procedures,” the ministry said.
