More than 1,300 luxury cars worth US$230 million imported to Russia despite sanctions

Since March 15, 2022, when the EU and the US banned the export of expensive cars to Russia, at least 1,319 luxury cars with a total value of US$229.6 million have entered the country.

Source: Russian opposition publication Verstka, citing closed data of the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation.

"Immediately after the introduction of sanctions, the rate of import of cars to Russia fell many times: in the first nine and a half months of 2022, at least 378 cars worth over US$100,000 each passed through Russian customs.

However, since the beginning of 2023, their flow resumed, and by mid-October, that is, also in nine and a half months, at least 941 such cars were imported into the country," the report says.

In total, the publication counted 12 companies whose cars worth more than US$100,000 got to Russia.

At the same time, the most popular car was Land Rover: since the introduction of sanctions, 551 of the company's cars have been imported to Russia. Mercedes-Benz is in second place with 226 cars, and Porsche is in third place with 177 cars.

"At least 104 BMWs, 99 Audi, 97 Toyota, 9 Cadillacs, 7 Rolls-Royces, 6 Jeeps and 1 Maserati were also imported during the 19 sanctioned months. In addition, at least 42 supercars were delivered to Russia: 32 Lamborghini and 10 Ferrari.

The most expensive imported car is a Ferrari 812 Competizione worth almost US$534,000," adds Verstka.

It is also reported that cars were imported mainly through intermediaries in third countries. Most often, these were companies from Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Belarus.

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