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Customs boss reveals how many goods Russia brought in via parallel import mechanism

Vladimir Bulavin noted that parallel imports do not affect the growth of counterfeit products

MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. Russia has brought 2.4 million tons of goods worth more than $20 billion via the mechanism of parallel imports, Head of the Federal Customs Service Vladimir Bulavin said on the air of the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

"Parallel imports, I must say, were originally conceived as a significant measure of support for both business and our economy. As far as I remember, the decision was made in early May. <...> Since then, 2.4 million tons of goods worth more than $20 billion have been imported. These are, first of all, automobiles, machine tools, equipment, and production lines. But there are also light industry items. We believe that this also has a significant impact on stabilizing prices in our market," the Federal Customs Service chief said.

Bulavin noted that parallel imports do not affect the growth of counterfeit products.

"As for counterfeit products we have fought and will continue to fight them. This year over 7 million counterfeit goods have been seized," he added.

In early May, Russia’s Industry and Trade Ministry published a list of more than 50 categories of goods that will be available for parallel imports. It included a variety of items: from plants to medicines and from soap to weapons. In terms of technology and electronics, the list includes products from such brands as Siemens, Panasonic, Apple, Intel, Samsung, Dyson, Electolux, GoPro, Asus, JBL, Logitech and many others. The largest Russian marketplaces - Wildberries, Ozon and Yandex.Market - announced that they are ready to work with goods imported under the parallel import system.

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