RF bans parallel import of electronics and restricts supply of leading brands' equipment - intelligence
Kyiv • UNN
Moscow is banning the parallel import of Intel, Samsung, and Acer electronics starting May 27. This will lead to technological backwardness and rising prices.
Starting May 27, Moscow is banning the parallel import of a wide range of electronic products. The ban includes Intel processors, SanDisk drives, SK Hynix memory, Acer and Asus laptops, as well as Samsung, Hewlett Packard, and Fujitsu equipment. This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service, according to UNN.
Parallel import (official smuggling) appeared in the RF in 2022 as a reaction to sanctions: it allows the import of branded products without the manufacturer's consent through third countries. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the UAE, Turkey, and China have become the main corridors for supplying electronics, microchips, server equipment, and dual-use goods to the RF. Now Moscow itself is cutting off some of these routes,
The official explanation is predictably absurd: the Ministry of Industry and Trade claims that the domestic market is already supplied with "Russian analogues" that will replace products from "unfriendly countries." In reality, the opposite is true.
Heads of Russian industrial enterprises openly state: the course toward import substitution has failed. Demand is falling, growth has stopped in almost all sectors, and those who invested money in the Kremlin's "strategic priorities" have ended up empty-handed. The "cooling of the economy" that Moscow speaks of has long since turned into overcooling.
Statistics confirm: over ten years, the RF's GDP grew by an average of 1.5% per year, while consumer prices soared by 77%. Per capita income is among the lowest in Europe. Customs is already charging businesses increased duties on goods from EAEU countries if they are manufactured in "unfriendly" states: non-food consumer goods could rise in price by 10–15%, and in certain segments, up to 30%.
The new restrictions narrow the RF's access to high-quality component bases and server equipment, increase dependence on Chinese suppliers, and accelerate technological backwardness. The Kremlin aims at Acer and Intel but hits its own industry,
Instead of microchips, syringes, catheters, and IV drips have been added to the list of goods allowed for official smuggling. Russia is systematically moving toward the only industry where sanctions will not hinder it: the production of its own wounded.