Volume of Shadow Imports to Russia Reaches $10-15 Billion Annually - ASI (Примечание: аббревиатура "ОПИ" не имеет устоявшегося английского эквивалента, поэтому я перевел ее как "ASI" — "Association for Shadow Imports", но на

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In Russia, the annual volume of shadow imports of goods through "cargo schemes" amounts to $10-15 billion or 1.2 trillion rubles. This estimate was provided by experts from the "Public Consumer Initiative" (PCI) in letters addressed to the Russian government, the Ministry of Finance, customs, and tax services. This information was reported by "Kommersant".

These schemes involve bypassing official logistics chains, where consumer goods from China are imported into the country through intermediaries without proper documentation and without paying duties. According to PCI, sellers on marketplaces and representatives of non-chain retail are primarily using these "cargo schemes." As a result, the federal budget loses 200-400 billion rubles annually due to grey imports.

In response, the organization proposes tightening control over online retail. The package of measures to combat "cargo schemes" includes: legislative consolidation of the principle of checking counterparties, introduction of joint liability for digital platforms and trading venues, involving freight forwarders and carriers in control, introduction of out-of-court blocking mechanisms, and overall toughening of responsibility. Additionally, the need for expanding the "Chestny Znak" marking system and implementing mechanisms for automatic control of the origin of goods on marketplaces through connection to FTS databases is highlighted.