Russian drivers face car confiscations amid parallel import crackdown
They thought they had beaten the system and might lose their cars. Russians who "arranged" to get Korean and Japanese cars from Kazakhstan must now return them. It's enough for them to encounter the police on their way or appear at an office. However, there is a loophole they can use.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, car manufacturers from Europe, Japan, South Korea, and the USA halted sales to this massive country. Over time, international sanctions made it impossible for Russian car dealers to operate smoothly. Of course, Chinese brands quickly began to fill the void, and by 2024, they could make up 50 to 60 percent of the Russian primary market. However, not everyone is content with such cars, so the concept of parallel imports quickly emerged.
This involves importing cars from countries that are friendly to Russia. In this way, new Western-branded cars didn't officially reach Russia, but the market suddenly grew in some countries. Here, apart from China, Kyrgyzstan is the undisputed leader. According to the Destatis statistical office, in 2021, the value of cars and parts imported to Kyrgyzstan from Germany was 3 million euros. By 2023, this had risen to 293 million euros. Kazakhstan is also one of the countries from which cars were imported to Russia, bypassing sanctions. And this may backfire on some Russian drivers.
According to the autostat.ru service, about 800 Russian users of Korean and Japanese brand cars are at risk of losing their vehicles. These cars were sold in Russian showrooms as parallel import vehicles but were acquired illegally. Criminals offered Kazakh citizens about 6,000 CAD for taking out a car loan in their name and purchasing the car. The cars were intended for Russian taxi companies, and the intermediaries promised to pay the installments. The agreements were only verbal.
Of course, the intermediaries stopped paying the installments shortly after receiving the cars. The banks then approached the Kazakh "frontmen" demanding payment, who started to appear at police stations. As a result, about 800 cars driving on Russian roads are being sought as property of banks operating in Kazakhstan.
According to autostat.ru, the cars are formally registered not only in Russia but also in Kazakhstan. Their Russian users may lose them if they contact the police or an office—for example when exchanging documents. In such a situation, the cars will be secured in police parking lots, but this does not mean the matter will end there.
Owners of illegally imported cars from Kazakhstan can demand compensation from the car dealership where they bought the vehicle. However, as autostat.ru admits, the dealerships involved in this practice – mainly from St. Petersburg – may soon declare bankruptcy to avoid lawsuits. Drivers can still approach the court to request the legalization of the cars, arguing that they purchased the cars in good faith.
Many Russians are willing to risk purchasing a well-known and reputable brand car from an uncertain source because the alternatives are not appealing. The options are Russian-brand models or cars from China. The latter are considered less reliable in Russia than European models, and half of the buyers of cars from China made such a purchase solely due to a lack of alternatives.
