Mikhail Kasyanov on market status of Russian economy

The granting of the market economy status to Russia is "a very important step that will help improve trade relations between Russia and the USA," Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov told journalists on Friday.

From now on, Russian companies will be treated the same as, say, companies from Britain or France -- whenever the matter will concern consideration of trade disputes in the USA, he said.

According to rough estimates supplied by the Russian economic development and trade ministry, the decision of the US authorities will raise the earnings of Russian enterprises by 250-300 million dollars, reported the premier.

Until yesterday, the USA had a "very simple method" of treating Russian importers, recalled Kasyanov. The USA believed that the goods Russia imports are too cheap because our economy does not have a market status, because the state covers 50% of enterprises' expenses, and because the enterprises have too many privileges. In the end, Americans were imposing high duties on Russian commodities, forcing our exporters to lose up to 300 million US dollars from the export of one commodity alone.

Kasyanov believes the situation is bound to change. There will certainly be positive changes in the export of Russian metals, he said, explaining that restrictions imposed on Russian metals were based on the non-market status of our economy. Hopefully, went on Kasyanov, Russian companies who fall under these restrictions on the US market will be able to dispute this situation and establish new trade relations with their partners.