further expanded schemes to circumvent sanctions

The parallel import scheme is expanding

The Russian government announced in early March that it was expanding the list of brands that can be imported without the manufacturer’s permission. It includes products from manufacturers such as Ikea, Hasbro, Mattel.

Moscow is expanding the so-called parallel import scheme so that Russian consumers do not lose access to many foreign products, even though the West applies wide-ranging sanctions due to the war in Ukraine, writes Reuters.

This mechanism allows Russian companies to buy goods from any company located outside of Russia.

The list extended by the Russian government also includes a number of luxury brands such as Lancome, Giorgio Armani and Yves Saint Laurent. Japan’s Nintendo is also there, as well as various brands of motor oil and agricultural equipment manufacturers.

Parallel imports have become widespread in the past year. This shows that Western companies have difficulty controlling supply chains once goods leave the market.

Lithuania could also contribute more

A. Butkevičius, deputy elder of the Seimas Democratic faction “Vardan Lietuvos” for the portal lrytas.lt said he knew about such Russian schemes. According to him, there are groups of unscrupulous businessmen operating throughout Europe, who buy goods from well-known companies such as Ikea, and then resell them to Russia.

“As far as I know, when these goods are transported through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, other countries, their price increases significantly, and this creates huge income for unscrupulous businessmen. These groups of entrepreneurs want to make a lot of money in a short time because they know that there is a demand for such goods in Russia.

They do not inform Ikeas or other companies. They just buy goods from there, rewrite the names. I think this is a huge problem. I have heard that more than one businessman has been offered to participate in this unfair business”, said A. Butkevičius.

However, according to the politician, although it is difficult to stop this, it is possible.

“I think that, first of all, there should be a closer and stronger consensus in the European Union, secondly, the people who are responsible for control and transportation of goods should also take a more responsible approach,” emphasized A. Butkevičius.

According to the politician, Lithuania could also contribute to the solution of this problem.

“We need to see if the most famous brands are included in the sanctions packages adopted by the European Union. If they are not included, then Lithuania should submit proposals in the Council of European Leaders, which additional goods should be included, so that they do not travel to Russia, so that the Russian public faces problems, seeing that they used to be able to purchase those goods, but now they can no longer.

I think that then emotions in Russia would increase and people would appreciate their government, and not just believe in propaganda,” A. Butkevičius thought.

However, he added that the Lithuanian authorities are not inclined to act in this way, even though some goods are transported to Russia through Lithuania.

“This government is not responding very well. It has long been talked about various goods that are transported to Russia through Lithuania. Control and supervision is bad, but you can tell the Government what you want – they don’t react. Or the competence of the employees is low, they don’t understand how to deal with these problems,” A. Butkevičius complained.