Western Goods Available in Russia Despite Boycott: Impact of Parallel Import Scheme and Luxury Cars Withdrawal

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, more than 1,000 foreign companies have announced their withdrawal from the aggressor country’s market. However, research by The Insider has revealed that, despite this boycott, various Western goods such as luxury cars, alcohol, carbonated drinks and clothing are available for purchase.

The Russian government’s decision to legalize the parallel import scheme, whereby Western brands can be supplied to an aggressor country without the consent of the brands themselves or their copyright holders, has dramatically reduced the impact of this boycott, which was supposed to act as an anti-war pressure campaign, writes “The Insider”.

In April 2022, Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade compiled a list of goods that the Kremlin deemed too good for Russia to give up.

The list included furniture, cosmetics, clothing and footwear, automobiles and their spare parts, industrial equipment, pharmaceuticals, electronics, household goods, musical instruments and even weapons.

Although Russian officials warned at the time about possible risks related to boycotts of such solutions, such as an increase in the proportion of fakes or problems with guarantees and logistics, there is still a fairly large number of well-known brands that had to disappear from the aggressor country’s market.

According to the data, goods worth more than 20 billion US dollars were imported into Russia through parallel imports last year.

Cars

Shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, luxury car manufacturers Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Land Rover were among the first in the automotive industry to announce their withdrawal from the aggressor country’s market.

2023-09-20 21:08:07
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