VLADIVOSTOK (Realist English). Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov at the Eastern Economic Forum announced the extension of the parallel import program for the whole of 2023. As recently as July, he also said that it was time to prepare for its partial cancellation and called it a temporary solution.
The mechanism of parallel import, which allows goods to be imported into the territory of the Russian Federation without the consent of the copyright holder, is now being presented as an undoubted benefit for our economy. This is partly true, because it allows meeting the urgent needs of industry and trade. However, there is another side to this coin.
Parallel imports must be metered and selective, otherwise it turns into a reverse action gun.
The haphazard introduction of parallel imports is already damaging those industries where Russia had parity. Not to mention the fact that this is the strongest demotivator for those who could potentially invest in the production of domestic products, machines and components. What is happening in the special machinery industry under the guise of parallel imports, can not be called other than Chinese expansion.
Under the myth of parallel imports, the Ministry of Agriculture proposed simply to reset to zero import duties on agricultural machinery, which finally finishes off those enterprises that are still afloat, and devalues the efforts of those who independently, without waiting for financial assistance from the state, invested in the modernization of producing capacities.
Finally, for many officials, parallel imports turned out to be a convenient cover for banal managerial weakness. No need to revive high-tech production in combination with related industries, to bother with planning and technical tasks, to normalize needs.
All this, in addition to huge efforts, means taking on administrative responsibility. All this is a risk for the part of the official body that fills in the armchair. Therefore, instead of a “dangerous” real economy, all processes can be legally turned into a simulated parallel universe.
