Anastasia Gorbacheva13:51, 09/24/24

The import of European cars is prohibited in accordance with the sanctions of Great Britain and the EU.

Russians can still buy luxury cars of well-known European brands, although their official import into the Russian Federation is prohibited . One of the most important helpers in circumventing Western restrictions is Georgia.

Sky News noted that direct exports of banned goods to Russia had certainly fallen to zero, but they had suddenly risen sharply for a number of Russia’s neighbors. Suddenly, Britain started sending equipment for drones to Kyrgyzstan and exporting luxury cars to Azerbaijan, and in huge quantities. At the same time, Azerbaijan itself suddenly began to export luxury cars to other countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia, including Georgia and Kazakhstan, although it does not produce them.

How the scheme works

One group of people is engaged in the delivery of cars to the border. For the most part, they don’t know where the cars come from. After driving the cars to the border, they leave them in parking lots, where they stand, until they issue the necessary documents. This process is not without difficulties. After the introduction of sanctions by European countries, Georgia introduced its own ban on sending cars to Russia, but there are many loopholes that allow cars to be imported into Russian territory.

One way is to register the car and go through customs control in Armenia before going to the Russian checkpoint “Lars”. Sometimes those who take cars to Russia are advised to say that they are going only in transit through Russia to Kyrgyzstan.

In the end, these cars receive transit registration marks, after which they can be driven across the border, and since Georgian citizens can freely enter the Russian Federation, they can easily transport the car across the border and then return home.

Everyone wins – except Ukrainians

The main thing about this system is that, firstly, no person in the chain can be accused of any crime – although, if you put everything together, this, of course, is tantamount to a violation of the sanctions legislation. Secondly, this means that cars do not appear in customs data. From a statistical point of view, they simply arrive in Azerbaijan or Georgia and then disappear.

This is just one of the numerous routes through which sanctioned goods reach Russia. This situation goes a long way toward explaining how Putin manages to prop up his regime by supplying it with the components needed to wage war and the luxuries needed to reward cronies.

The result contradicts the promises made when the sanctions were imposed: the Russian economy remains strong, Moscow has no shortage of basic and secondary goods, and states such as Georgia and Azerbaijan have received a huge economic boost by acting as an informal trade channel. Everyone won – except the Ukrainians.

No one is trying to hide what is happening

Car manufacturers knew about the risks associated with the fact that cars would end up in the Caucasus, even before the cars were produced. Although British carmakers and the authorities insist they are doing everything they can to stop the unofficial trade routes, on the ground in Georgia no one is trying to hide what is happening.

Everyone knows that these expensive European cars are not supposed to enter Russia, but they cross the border every day. Everyone knows what’s going on, but no one is doing anything to stop it.

(C)UNIAN 2024