Russia will launch a state-funded program for the disposal of used cars on Monday. Most dealers will be ready to receive the clients going to scrap their cars already on March 8.

The program will be in effect until November 1, 2010. Under the program it will be possible to buy 66 models of the cars produced in Russia. A bonus for the disposal of a used car will amount to 50,000 roubles.

The state program is for used cars in possession for more than a year by the latest owner and produced in 1999 and earlier with the permitted full weight of no more than 3.5 tonnes, which is a complete car and has the complete package of documents verifying the ownership.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has made up the lists of dealers and car disposal stations, which are involved in the program. The ministry posted on its official website the lists of 1,569 trading organizations in 74 Russian regions and 153 car disposal stations in 49 Russian regions, which will participate in the experiment.  The list of dealers includes Russian trading organizations, which sell new vehicles under the contracts with carmakers or are juridical persons authorized by the carmakers.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade hopes that this program will help to promote the sale of about 200,000 new cars. Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Khristenko forecasts that people, who will decide to engage in the car disposal program, will get additional bonuses from dealers and regions. “Some companies stated that they make additional discounts in this scheme, and currently some regions, including those, where cars are produced, will state about their additional measures,” the minister noted.

Khristenko also recalled that after the disposal of the used car it is possible to get a credit on easy terms in order to buy a new one instead of a compensation for car disposal. According to the minister, there are about 14 million car owners in Russia with cars older than ten years. The funds allocated for the program (10 billion roubles) will be enough only for the exchange of 200,000 vehicles. “This is less than 1.5%,” he specified. “The polls showed that from 17% to 33% of car owners are going to use this service, but all the same it is 10-20 times more than the financial resources under the program,” the minister said. Therefore, he is confident that “this measure will be in demand.”