Belarus to triple electricity consumption for charging electric vehicles in 2020 to 12m kWh – Energy Ministry

<p> MINSK, Jul 15 - PrimePress. Belarus will triple the electricity consumption for charging electric vehicles from 3.8 million kWh in 2019 to 12 million kWh in 2020, Belarus Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich said during the Electric Transport Day in China-Belarus Great Stone Industrial Park on July 15, 2020. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “In 2019, the consumption totaled 3.8 million kWh, and it had reached 2 million kWh in the first quarter of 2020 alone. We expect 12 million kWh by the end of the year. Consumption growth will increase more than 3-fold against the past year,” BelTA state newswire quotes Karankevich as saying. </p> <p>   </p> <p> According to the minister, the electric transport development outlook is largely based on incentive measures taken and the upcoming commissioning of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported, presidential ordinance No.92 of March 12, 2020 on promoting the use of electric vehicles zeroed the value added tax rate for electric vehicles imported into Belarus for personal use from June 15, 2020 to December 31, 2025. This applies to Belarusian nationals, foreign nationals and stateless persons who permanently reside in the Republic of Belarus. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) decided on March 16, 2020 to nullify the current rate (18%) of the import customs duty of the Unified Customs Tariff of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) for certain types of motor vehicles with electric engines (FEACN 8703 80 000 2) until December 31, 2021 inclusive for importing electric vehicles into the EEU by legal entities and individuals. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Industry experts believe that the mass import of electric vehicles in Belarus may begin by mid-2021 with the coming of official dealers to the country. According to their estimates, after the abolition of VAT and customs duties, the number of electric vehicles in Belarus may increase to 100,000 by 2025. </p> <p>   </p> <p> According to the EEC statistics, in January-October 2019, the import of electric vehicles to the EEU member states amounted to 292 vehicles worth$14.86 million. Armenia accounted for 0.7%; Belarus - 30.8%; Kazakhstan - 7.2%; Russia - 61.3%. Electric vehicles were mostly imported from the US, China, Austria and Germany. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The EEU member states have not set up mass manufacture of electric vehicles, although almost all countries have industrial capacities for that. Belarusian JV Unison CJSC (Minsk Oblast) and BelGee CJSC (Borisov District, Minsk Oblast) have such capacities. With the zero customs duty, Belarus plans to manufacture 30,000 electric vehicles per year by 2023. Also, Belarus has adopted a program to arrange state charging stations for electric vehicles (500 stations by 2021). End </p> <p>   </p>

2020-07-16

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