Russian drivers face crackdown over illegally imported cars
They thought they had cheated the system, but now they might lose their cars. Russians who "arranged" to get Korean and Japanese cars from Kazakhstan will now have to 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's invasion of Ukraine, car manufacturers from Europe, Japan, Korea, and the USA halted car sales to the world's largest country. Over time, international sanctions made it difficult for Russian car dealers to operate smoothly. Of course, Chinese brands quickly began to fill the void, and by 2024, they could account for 50 to 60 percent of the Russian primary market. However, not everyone is happy with these cars, and that's why so-called parallel imports quickly emerged.
This involves importing cars through countries friendly to Russia. In this way, new Western-branded cars didn't officially reach Russia, but in some countries, the market suddenly grew. 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, it 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 by criminals. They offered Kazakh citizens about $4,400 for taking out a car loan in their name and purchasing the car. The cars were supposed to go to 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 approached the Kazakh "frontmen" demanding payment, who then started reporting to the police. As a result, about 800 cars driving on Russian roads are sought after 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 upon any contact with the police or an office—for example, when exchanging documents. In such a situation, the cars are to 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 reports, 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 take the risk of purchasing a well-known and reputable brand car from an uncertain source because the alternatives are not encouraging. 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.
