2026-02-12 09:26
publication
2026-02-12 09:26
Tens of thousands of cars of Western and Asian brands are sent to Russia via China despite sanctions, Reuters revealed on Thursday. The practice involves registering vehicles with zero mileage in China and immediately reclassifying them as “used” cars, which allows intermediaries to export them without the required consent of the manufacturers.
According to data from Autostat, nearly 30,000 came to Russia last year. Toyota and almost 47 thousand cars of brands from the Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes groups. Overall, almost half of the 130,000 of sanctioned cars sold in Russia came from factories in China.
The entire process takes place through informal networks and chains of intermediaries who import cars on individual orders from Russian customers.
Automotive companies declare their opposition, but admit that they are helpless in the face of intermediaries – admitted Reuters. Mercedes noted in a statement that tracking violations is “time-consuming and complex,” and BMW emphasized that unauthorized imports are taking place “against the will” of the concern and beyond its control.
Experts admit that Given the current scale of Sino-Russian trade, it is almost impossible to completely seal the supply of products subject to restrictions.
After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the West imposed sanctions on Moscow, and Western and Japanese companies withdrew from the Russian market.
Beijing, which has strengthened economic relations with the Kremlin, has become a key supply channel for the restricted Russian economy. (PAP)
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