Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia has significantly reduced the list of goods approved for parallel imports. Hewlett Packard (HP) and Fujitsu laptops, as well as several brands of printing devices, have been excluded from the list. In addition, under the Ministry’s new order, the only cosmetic products now allowed for parallel imports are those having pharmaceutical properties.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade explained the decision to exclude printing devices from the list by the increase in supplies from friendly countries, maintaining that the decision will not affect the availability of respective goods on the Russian market. The measure is expected to stimulate demand for domestic products and spur growth of the national radio-electronic industry.
“At present, Russian printing equipment manufacturers produce about 100,000 pieces, with potential for further increasing production capacity,” the Ministry of Industry and Trade said in a statement.
Non-medicated cosmetic products were also excluded from the list in response to the growing domestic production, the Ministry’s press office explained. Moving forward, product lines from Russian companies and brands from friendly countries will be represented in every segment of the Russian cosmetics market. Imports of foreign brands by official distributors are also planned.
However, experts warn that consumers should expect a redistribution of the offer in favor of less-known brands as well as possible price hikes with respect to the remaining premium goods.
“The Ministry of Industry and Trade is trying to reduce Russia’s dependence on imports by restricting them (imports),” economist Sergei Khestanov, Associate Professor at RANEPA, says. “This should also curb the demand for foreign currency a little, indirectly supporting the ruble in the context of shrinking forex earnings.”