Unnecessary items will be deleted from Russian parallel imports
Source：Kommersant
From：Taiwan Trade Center, Moscow
Update Time：2024/02/06
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.
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 the part of the reduction of the list are made either in favor of the local manufacturer or - the returned foreigner. In any case, parallel imports, given current delivery problems, cannot be cheap. If it is better to protect the domestic producer to ban parallel imports, this indicates that local production is even more expensive. This actually provokes inflation because citizens will buy more expensive goods 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, says Fortwine Executive Director Alexander Lipilin: Parallel imports are in demand in a narrow range, so many whiskey brands are imported. Even if all parallel imports are banned, it will make few people upset, except for a small circle of whiskey lovers.
There are whiskey producers from India and other countries. Another category is the champagne. But there everything revolves around the brand Moet. Although now there is a very large number of small producers who make wine only from their own grapes, not buy it".
The reduction may also affect parallel car deliveries, primarily due to Chinese expansion. Since 2021, the demand for their cars in Russia has increased threefold, analysts of "Auto Discovery" calculated. In 2024, the number of Chinese stamps in Russia will grow from 26 to 41 brands. But the volumes of parallel imports are decreasing every month, says project manager "Auto Marketing" Oleg Moseev:
In August, a little more than 14 thousand. cars were registered, which were imported in parallel. In November there were 10 thousand of them. Obviously, this number will decrease further, but still remain in the premium segment. Globally there will be no problems with the availability of cars, just the choice will be less.
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 worked in Russia in 2022. According to First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, during this time the country imported goods worth more than $70 billion.
Source: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6426463