The head of the Ministry of Economy estimated the volume of goods imported through parallel imports at 1.3 million tons

The head of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, Maxim Reshetnikov, said that more than 1.3 million tons of goods worth more than $9 billion were brought to Russia through parallel imports. According to him, imports to the Russian Federation began to recover in the third quarter, mainly due to consumer imports. Mr. Reshetnikov believes that investment imports will also begin to grow in 2023.

“Parallel import worked well. More than 1.3 million tons of goods worth $9.3 billion were imported. This helped to support consumer demand, primarily in the market of non-food products: household appliances, household chemicals,” said the head of the Ministry of Economic Development, speaking on September 19 in the State Duma at a meeting of the Committee on Economic Policy and the control committee (TASS quote).

The minister said that consumer demand in Russia had passed the bottom of the decline in the second quarter of 2022, with live data showing a recovery. He noted that the government’s plan of priority measures contained a large package of concessional business lending programs that were designed to saturate the economy with working capital, support demand, and save companies and teams.

According to Maxim Reshetnikov, lending to the economy is no longer through preferential programs, but through a reduction in the key rate and market lending. “It should be noted that the Central Bank’s decision on Friday to lower the key rate is also a step in the same direction,” the head of the Ministry of Economic Development added.

In March of this year, the Russian government allowed parallel import of goods into the country for certain types of products. Importation of such products can be carried out without obtaining permission from the copyright holder, manufacturer or dealer.

Daria Erozbek