The unnecessary things have been crossed out from the list – Kommersant FM

The unnecessary things have been crossed out from the list – Kommersant FM

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The list of products and manufacturers for which parallel imports are permitted will be reduced in 2024. The head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov stated this in an interview with RIA Novosti. He also said that the mechanism has been extended for next year. According to the minister, the authorities expect to gradually reduce the list of goods allowed for import. First of all, this concerns products that were able to be replaced by Russian companies that achieved the specified volume and quality indicators. With details – Daniil Babkin.

The reason for reducing the list of goods allowed to be imported as parallel imports was the return of foreign manufacturers to the Russian market. The head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade did not specify which companies were being discussed. By adjusting the list, the authorities will try to support the local manufacturer, suggests Anatoly Semenov, director of the Parallel Import Association:

“All these concessions in terms of reducing the list are made either in favor of the local manufacturer or the returning foreigner. In any case, parallel imports cannot be cheap given the current delivery problems. If it is better to ban parallel imports to protect domestic producers, this indicates that local production is even more expensive. This actually provokes inflation, because citizens will buy more expensive ones instead of cheaper ones.”

Products that will be declared localized products will be the first to disappear from the list, say experts interviewed by Kommersant FM. The main contenders are cars, electronics and alcohol. In 2023, according to Roskachestvo forecasts, the volume of wine imports in the country will be within 300 million liters. Most of this volume is from friendly countries. At the same time, in 2022, distributors imported 405 million liters of still, sparkling and fortified wine into the country, which is 10% more than a year earlier.

There are difficulties with strong alcohol, emphasizes Fortwine executive director Alexander Lipilin: “Parallel imports are in demand in a narrow range, so quite a few brands of whiskey are imported.

Even if all parallel imports were banned, few would be upset, except for a small circle of whiskey lovers.

Whiskey producers from India and other countries are emerging. Another category is champagne. But everything revolves around the Moet brand. Although now there are a very large number of small producers who make wine only from their own grapes, and do not buy them.”

The reduction may also affect parallel deliveries of cars, primarily due to the expansion of the Chinese. Since 2021, the demand for their cars in Russia has tripled, Otkritie Auto analysts estimate. In 2024, the number of Chinese brands in Russia will increase from 26 to 41 brands. But the volume of parallel imports is decreasing every month, says Oleg Moseev, head of the Automarketer project:

“In August, a little more than 14 thousand cars were registered, which were imported through parallel import. In November there were 10 thousand of them. Obviously, this number will further decrease, but will still remain in the premium segment.

Globally, there will be no problems with the availability of cars, there will simply be less choice.”

With regard to imported electronics, the situation is also quite complicated, notes Dmitry Petrov, head of the product management department of the X-Com group of companies: “Currently, the electronics market lives on parallel imports. This applies to both corporate clients and end customers in the form of individuals. The topic of import substitution is already beginning to prevail in the public sector, but so far domestic products are more expensive than imported ones. There are also innovations regarding the recycling fee for electronics. This is likely to be another disincentive for parallel imports to continue.”

The parallel import mechanism began working in Russia in 2022. According to First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, during this time goods worth more than $70 billion were imported into the country.


Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.

Yana Zagorovskaya, Ilya Sizov

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