There will be problems with the brands of equipment familiar to Russians.
Photo: Julia PYKHALOVA
PROBLEMS WILL BE DEFINITELY
Bosch, Siemens, Electrolux, Braun, LG – this is not a complete list of brands of household appliances, which are becoming less on Russian shelves. It all started last year, when “thanks” to the sanctions, many companies from unfriendly countries left our market. Then the government made a knight’s move and gave the green light to parallel imports (importation of goods into the country without the consent of the manufacturer or copyright holder), until that moment it was banned.
In fact, parallel imports have become an opportunity to supply goods to Russia by companies that have left us in a roundabout way – through intermediaries – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, etc.
However, sooner or later these countries would be at risk of secondary sanctions. And that time, apparently, has come.
On March 1, under pressure from the United States and the European Union, Turkey stopped the transit of goods to Russia from unfriendly countries. Since April 1, Kazakhstan has tightened control over trade turnover with Russia.
“In addition, representatives of the Biden administration are negotiating with Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan,” Georgiy Vlastopulo, CEO of Optimal Logistics, lists.
So don’t go to a fortuneteller here – there will be problems with the brands of equipment familiar to Russians. Not only will it become smaller, but it will also rise in price. Moreover, the blocking of transit through Kazakhstan, with which Russia’s trade turnover has grown by almost 18% over the past year (to $26 billion), will have the greatest impact.
THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY
The other day, the EU prepared the 11th package of sanctions, focusing in it on blocking the transit of goods through friendly countries. And the current situation concerns not only household appliances. We are talking about all products coming to us from the West.
– Schemes for the import of goods are undergoing constant adaptation, – says expert George Vlastopulo. – Sanctions pressure and control over the movement of these goods from manufacturers to end customers in the territory of the Russian Federation is being tightened. Increasingly complex supply chains lead to additional necessary costs for transport services. All this leads to higher prices for the goods themselves.
According to the expert, the approximate calculation is as follows. If you transport goods through Kazakhstan with customs clearance on its territory, then the lengthened transport chains lead to an increase in the cost of delivering goods to the counter by 30-40%, or even 50%. Logistics costs, as a rule, correlate with the cost of goods 1 to 4. Hence, the overall price rise by 10-12%.
– Parallel imports will shrink, there will be less Western goods, but this is not the end of the story, – says George Vlastopulo. – There are companies that specifically change their brand in order to import their goods to Russia. Basically, this applies to products for general consumption. Therefore, both sides will look for ways out from under the sanctions. Producers are interested in the Russian market.
And finally, one more good news. Equipment from friendly countries, according to experts, will become cheaper by about 7-8%.
“Delivery from China is slowly going down in value,” says George Vlastopulo. – This is due to global trends in container transportation. The logistics part of the delivery of goods has already decreased by 20-30%, in contrast to the peak prices of last year.
