Luxury cars from the EU enter Russia through third countries despite sanctions: what is known
Kyiv • UNN
The Financial Times has uncovered schemes to smuggle European cars into Russia through Turkey, Georgia, and South Korea. German cars are sold with a markup of about 19,000 euros through Russian intermediaries.
European cars are being shipped to Russia despite the fact that the EU has tightened sanctions following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. However, wealthy buyers are forced to pay higher prices as importers are forced to use longer routes. This is stated in an investigation by the Financial Times , reports UNN.
The Financial Times has identified five Russian companies offering to smuggle cars from Europe with large engine sizes.
The photos for the online ad by Russian importer Autoimport on Auto.ru for the sale of a BMW 530 d M Sport for 7,200,070 rubles ($68,200) show that the car is still in Germany.
As of mid-December, the car was still on sale for 31,900 euros on the website of the German seller Autopartner BGL.
“The ads posted in Russia have nothing to do with us,” said a representative of Autopartner BGL, confirming that the car in question was still in Germany and had not been sold as of mid-December.
The FT found more than 50 luxury cars from 25 different German car dealerships on the Russian website Auto.ru, which were offered by Russian importers at an average markup of about 19,000 euros.
Smugglers often pose as if they are going to send the car to a third country. The FT traced a black Mercedes-Benz S350 sold in January 2024 to a Kyrgyz taxi company by German car trader Kessler & Haag. The car was registered in March to a Moscow taxi company.
“We have a buyer, a payer, an exporter, and export documents. What else should we do?” - said Arthur Kessler, a representative of Kessler & Haag. “I don't want to know what will happen to the machines afterwards. I just want to run my business, to comply with my obligations and rights.
European cars are being shipped to Russia despite the fact that the EU has tightened sanctions after President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
After the EU tightened restrictions on luxury goods imports into Belarus - once a popular third country for imports into Russia - in July, smugglers are using increasingly longer and more expensive routes to smuggle cars.
A sales representative of Autoimport told an FT reporter who posed as a potential buyer that German cars coming from Europe “are not transported through ... Belarus, but through Turkey, Georgia and then to Russia.
“Exporting cars from Europe has become extremely difficult,” the source added.
According to him, it is now cheaper and faster to transport expensive German cars through South Korea than through the Baltic states and Belarus, noting that this Asian country has imposed “minimal” sanctions against Russia.
According to them, for just 30,000 rubles, you can switch the car's onboard systems from Korean to Russian.
A customs officer from one of the Baltic states confirmed that exports of suspicious cars from Germany have decreased since the imposition of sanctions against Belarus.
“The general situation is that the number of cars [is] decreasing, but there is still a flow,” the official said. “Cars that were originally intended for Central Asian countries,” such as Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, are still entering Russia.
However, the FT still found cars that were transported through Belarus after the sanctions were tightened.
A white Mercedes-Benz E220D with a license plate frame from German car dealer Gruma Automobile was photographed in Russia this fall after it crossed the EU border into Belarus in September. The head of Gruma Automobile's sales department, Michael Wüger, denied the information about the sale of the car and said that “we do not do any business with companies, organizations or individuals located in embargoed countries.
Several German car dealers contacted by the FT said they were unaware of their cars being sold to Russia or advertised on Russian websites.
Markus Klapper of Autohaus Reisert said he has not seen any Russian ads for his cars, but he is aware of tactics where brokers copy details and images from dealer websites to resell cars at a premium.
He suggested that Russian smugglers might use a similar strategy. The FT found several cars with Autohaus Reisert license plates advertised on the Auto.ru website.
According to the Financial Times, EU officials are aware that luxury cars are still getting into Russia, but they are now focused on combating sanctions evasion of more dangerous goods that could be used by the military.
