Parallel import of foreign cars to Russia threatens to become gray

Russian car dealers began importing foreign cars that left the country through individuals, which could lead parallel imports to the gray economy, writes Izvestia, referring to the National Automobile Union.

“It’s a forced measure. The costs of customs clearance for an individual are slightly lower, and the procedure itself is simpler. And sometimes it simply cannot be imported in any other way, ”says Alexey Podshchekoldin, vice president of Russian car dealerships.

As an example, he gave the UAE, from where it is impossible to import cars to a legal entity, because the US Treasury Department controls bank transfers of contractors from these countries. The situation is simpler for imports from China, both local and Japanese and Western European brands, noted Podshchekoldin.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in 2022, about 443,000 imports were imported to Russia. foreign cars. Of these, almost 221,000 were natural persons. According to Avtostat, before the imposition of sanctions in early 2022, 97% of imports of foreign cars were legal entities. “Now the trend has changed dramatically,” said Anton Shaparin, vice president of the National Automobile Union.

To bring a car to Russia, it is necessary to issue a confirmation of safety and compliance with the requirements of the EAEU technical regulation “On the safety of wheeled vehicles”. However, such documents are released only with the permission of the copyright owner. Therefore, the government has simplified the requirements: now it is enough to issue a Design Safety Certificate (SBKTS) or an Application for Assessment of Individual Vehicles (SOETS).

The first type of document is issued to natural persons who import cars for their own needs. The second document is issued to legal entities for single copies of cars. According to Rosstandart, 315,000 were issued in 2022. SBKTS, and only about 11 thousand. ZOETs. Documents are issued to legal entities by the automobile NAMI, subordinate to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, while individuals receive SBKTS in various laboratories, Shparin says. As a result, according to him, buying cars from individuals has become easier and faster for dealers.

At the same time, buyers of cars imported by individuals may face the absence of warranty obligations, Shparin notes. The recall of the SBKTS could also become a problem – in 2022, Rosstandart recalled it from ten cars, Autonews wrote. This led to the cancellation of the electronic PTS and the inability to operate these machines. The reason for the recall may be that the laboratory that issued the SBCTS is not accredited or that the vehicle is not actually inspected and inspected.