Banks in Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Hong Kong have begun blocking payments from Russian companies for electronics supplied through so-called “parallel imports,” or smuggling, due to the risk of sanctions.
Kommersant writes about this, citing industry sources.
In particular, no payment is made for servers, chips, processors and other telecom equipment for legal entities from Russia. Because of this, the source said, Russian companies will have to import these electronics under “alternative” codes of the HS (Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity).
As the publication reminds, last year, Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan emphasized that Armenian banks “are carefully monitoring their operations to avoid falling under sanctions.” Kazakh banks have also tightened controls, experts say.
“It is impossible to buy components, spare parts, computers, etc. directly from the country of origin, and it is becoming more and more difficult to buy through third countries, so in six months to a year we may face a shortage of sanctioned products,” warns Georgy Vlastopulo, CEO of the Russian logistics company Optimalog.
In April, the media reported that a Hong Kong bank had refused to provide services to a Russian company on the sanctions list.
After large-scale sanctions against Russia and the withdrawal of foreign companies, the Russian authorities decided to legalize “parallel imports.” For example, this is how new iPhones from the CIS countries enter the country, i.e. without the official permission of the copyright holder. The consequences of this decision are a higher price for the goods and a lower quality of service.
Many other goods are imported into Russia in this way. In November 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade added alcoholic beverages to this list. The so-called parallel imports also include Jack Daniel’s, Jim Beam, White Horse, Bushmills whiskey, tequila, and other alcohol.
