South Korea also participated in expanding sanctions against Russia. 26 December about a new package of sanctions affecting, among other things, the automotive industry, reported Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of the Republic of Korea.
In addition to the previous ban on the supply of cars worth more than $50 thousand, the restrictions also apply to the export to Russia and Belarus of cars with an engine capacity of more than two liters. control – their total number reached 1159. Export of these goods to the Russian Federation and Belarus will require special permission from the South Korean government.
The innovations will come into force from the beginning of 2024, after the completion of the necessary official procedures. According to preliminary information, this is expected to happen on January 15.
What is prohibited?
The Kia Sorento crossover (in the current generation it is equipped with a 2.2 diesel engine and a 2.5 gasoline engine) is subject to restrictions on engine displacement. The latest Hyundai Santa Fe with a 2.5 turbo engine and an eight-speed automatic transmission is prohibited, as well as previous generation cars equipped with 2.2 and 2.5 engines.
Additionally, the stop list included Kia Mohave and Hyundai Palisade crossovers, Kia Carnival and Hyundai Staria minivans, most Genesis models, the previous generation Hyundai Sonata with 2.4 engines, and cars of other brands with imported engines of the corresponding size. To the Russian Federation.
In popular ads, for the query “Car from Korea without mileage in the Russian Federation” there are currently more than 1.2 thousand ads for the sale of cars with an engine capacity of more than two liters. These include the BMW X3 X6, 5 Series, as well as Range Rover Sport, Volkswagen Touareg and Mercedes-Benz GLS.
There are workarounds
Entrepreneurs involved in the supply of cars from South Korea say that the Korean government’s ban will not greatly affect imports to Russia: delivery routes have already been determined through the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
“Cars from Korea were mostly transported through Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, and Korea did not ban exports there. What’s the problem if cars are exported to Kyrgyzstan and then re-exported to Russia? “So far we see that only exports to Russia have been banned, but no one has taken them directly to Russia,” he said. – Elena Lisovskaya, author of the YouTube channel “The Fox Rules”, which is engaged in the import and sale of foreign cars, explained to socialbites.ca.
He added that if the Korean side bans final imports to Russia, it would affect supply, but it is not clear how such a ban could be implemented.
According to Dmitry Rogov, founder of the company RogovMobil (Specializes in turnkey car delivery from abroad)There are many models that are subject to restrictions, but the Russian Federation has existed under ever-tightening sanctions for two years and the supply of cars has not stopped.
“Ways to get around these restrictions have long been found and are already working. Rogov told socialbites.ca: Korean cars will pass through the same channel as Japanese and German expensive cars.
The expert believes that new sanctions restrictions from South Korea will not significantly affect the current market situation. In his opinion, what will affect the market much worse may not be the actions of other countries, but the decision of the Russian authorities to increase the recycling fee.
Lisovskaya also agreed with this opinion and emphasized that among the cars imported from Korea, the majority are cars with a cylinder volume of more than two liters, but the increase in recycling collection has already greatly affected their availability.
“After the increase in the recycling fee, car imports from Korea suffered greatly, because the most popular models still have one 2.5-liter engine, not two – these are the Hyundai Santa Fe and Palisade with a 2.2 diesel engine, the Kia Mohave has about a 3-liter engine Tucson 2.5. Their recycling fee is not 306 thousand rubles, but 845 thousand rubles, and they are outside the scope of interest of the buyer,” Lisovskaya concluded.
The share of cars imported into Russia through alternative import channels was falling even before the introduction of new Korean sanctions. With data According to the analytical agency Autostat, in November 2023 such cars occupied 8% of the market, compared to 11% in October and 9% in November 2022. More than 47 percent of cars sold in November were imported to Russia by official distributors, while 45 percent were locally produced cars.
Additionally, in November, automobile imports to Russia through parallel imports denied two large dealer holdings – “Avtodom” and “Avtospetstsentr”. We have previously detailed what this market will be like in 2024. Wrote “socialbites.ca”.