Every year, farmers purchase less and less new equipment, and prices for it in 2021-2023 increased by 15-30%. In 2024, an increase in the recycling fee for agricultural machinery has not been officially announced, but agricultural producers are almost sure that it will happen and are afraid of the consequences in advance.
If the initiative is implemented, the cost of imported equipment will increase by about 30%, domestic equipment will become more expensive due to lack of competition, and a shortage will form on the market, experts interviewed by Forbes fear.
No one has officially announced plans to increase recycling fees in 2024, but industry associations sounded the alarm in February. Then when the Association of Agrarians of the Russian Federation (Russian Grain Union, Potato Union, National Meat Association, Rusprodsoyuz and others), as well as the Association of Agricultural Equipment Dealers “Askhod” sent a letter to the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov (available to Forbes) with a request to listen to the agricultural community and do not increase the recycling fee for basic types of equipment. Kommersant was the first to write about this.
The recycling fee for agricultural machinery was initially introduced in 2016 to help reduce the import of used, non-environmentally friendly self-propelled machines and renew the fleet of self-propelled equipment, including with machines produced in Russia. In 2023, the government increased the recycling fee for agricultural machinery.