People are traveling to Minsk not only to find brands that have exited the Russian market but also to explore models that are not yet available there. In neighboring Belarus, even Chinese cars can be more affordable. For example, the Geely Coolray in the comfort trim costs just over 1.5 million rubles in Belarus, while in Russia the price starts at around 2 million rubles. Yet purchasing presents its own hurdles, and a customer holding a Russian passport is likely to face a purchase denial.
A Geely dealer explained that registering such a vehicle in Russia would be challenging because Belarusian and Russian vehicle registration documents are not interchangeable. A Russian buyer reportedly spent about four months resolving the issue.
These difficulties stem from the local production of Geely vehicles. Other brands tend to exchange hands with Russian customers without trouble, according to market participants.
At Belarusian Kia and Renault dealerships, Russians encounter no explicit restrictions, but the selection is extremely limited. The inventory reflects only what was shipped before the Russian factory halted operations, and there are no new deliveries arriving yet.
Belarusian official dealers also struggle with insufficient quotas to satisfy the demand from Russia. A pronounced shortage hit the market for brands that decided to leave Russia, especially in the midrange and budget segments.
Geely and Lada emerged as leaders in Belarusian sales, drawing some Russians to Belarus in the autumn months as buyers sought available options.
For attribution of these market observations, reference is made to reports from kommersant.ru. Image credit to Depositphotos.
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