The volume of parallel imports to Russia exceeded $20 billion

As part of parallel imports, 2.4 million tons of goods worth over $20 billion have been imported to Russia since May, Vladimir Bulavin, head of the Federal Customs Service (FCS), said on the Russia-24 TV channel.

“During this time, 2.4 million tons of goods worth over $20 billion have been imported. These are, first of all, cars, machine tools, equipment, production lines. But there are also light industrial goods. We believe that this also has a significant impact on price stabilization in our market,” leads his words TASS.

Bulavin also emphasized that parallel imports did not affect the volume of counterfeit products, since it delivers “primarily original products when the copyright holder, for one reason or another, does not want to take part in the generally accepted circulation of these goods.” The volume of counterfeit products amounted to more than 7 million units, he added.

The parallel import procedure involves the importation of goods into the country without the consent of the manufacturer or copyright holder. Products are delivered to customers not through a distributor, but through alternative methods. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree legalizing the import of goods into Russia through parallel imports at the end of June.

In May, the Ministry of Industry and Trade approved a list of goods for parallel imports. In particular, it included products of electronics manufacturers (Apple, Samsung, Asus, Intel, Sony, etc.), cars (Jaguar, Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Bentley), rare earth metals, sports equipment and other goods. Subsequently, it also included the products of a number of cosmetic, perfume and alcohol brands.

In September, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov informedthat the parallel import program will be extended to the next year. He also noted that anti-crisis measures, which are related to the simplification of cargo flows and trade within the country, the sale of certain types of medicines, etc., will be extended for another year.