The Kazakh government will determine the size of an export duty that is to be introduced on mining and metals products before the end of April, Kazakh Deputy Finance Minister Daulet Yergozhin said in Astana on Friday according to Interfax.
"An export duty on metal commodities is currently being calculated," he said, noting that the Kazakh Industry and Trade Ministry is handling the calculations.
Yergozhin did not specify what types of metals products would be subject to the new export duty.
The introduction of an export duty on metals will be considered in conjunction with other taxes, in particular, the corporate income tax, whose rate could be lowered once a new Tax Code is approved.
Yergozhin said the export duty on metals commodities would be less than the oil export duty that is to come in effect on May 17.
Nikolai Radostovets, executive director of Kazakhstan's Mining Metal Companies Association, said the companies view the introduction of the export duty as "a hindrance to the competitiveness of their products."
"This is a barrier that will hinder the development of the Customs Union and could even contradict it," he said. A resolution on the customs duty on metals could be adopted at the President's Council of Economic Policy in a few days, he said.
"We are ready to give more to the country, but within the framework of a civilized taxation system," Radostovets said.
Industry and Trade Minister Vladimir Shkolnik called for a diversified approach to calculating the customs duty for each metal product.