Russia Parallel Imports in 2026: The Grey Channel Is Narrowing

For three years, parallel imports were the channel that filled Russian shelves with Western goods. In 2025 that channel started closing — not because of sanctions tightening, but because Russia’s own government is converting grey-channel demand into legal-channel volume. For a foreign brand evaluating Russia, this is the most important policy shift of the year.

TL;DR

• Russia’s parallel-import flow fell 45% YoY in 2025 to $20.9 billion (January–November), down from $37.9 billion a year earlier — per Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov, January 2026.
• Monthly run-rate dropped from ~$4B to ~$2B by late 2025. Initial 2025 forecast of $25B did not hold.
• Cosmetics and perfumes from “unfriendly” countries were removed from the parallel-import list in 2025. The Industry and Trade Ministry has publicly signaled clothing and electronics may be next.
• Russian customs received broader powers to seize undocumented shipments transiting through Kazakhstan (late 2025) — historically a major grey-channel route.
• For foreign brands from non-sanctioning jurisdictions (Turkey, China, UAE, India, Iran, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil): the narrowing of parallel-imports is a direct demand signal for legal entry through Ozon and Wildberries.

What parallel imports were, and what they did

Russia legalized parallel imports in May 2022 as an anti-sanctions countermeasure. The mechanism: the Industry and Trade Ministry publishes a list of goods and brands for which the trademark holder’s consent is not required for import. For listed brands, anyone can bring in original goods from any jurisdiction without authorization from the brand owner. For brands that left Russia voluntarily — Apple, Samsung, Nike, Zara, IKEA — this allowed grey-channel resupply through third countries.

By design, parallel imports were never meant to be permanent. They were a bridge measure to manage the demand shock from Western brand exits.

Three years in, the bridge is being dismantled.

The 2025 collapse, by the numbers

Metric	2024 (Jan–Nov)	2025 (Jan–Nov)	Change
Total parallel-import flow	$37.9 billion	$20.9 billion	−45%
Monthly average	~$3.4 billion	~$1.9 billion	−44%
Initial 2025 ministry forecast	—	$25 billion	Missed by ~16%

Source: Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov, January 2026 (via Moscow Times, Interfax, TASS, Izvestia).

The decline accelerated through the second half of 2025. Monthly volumes fell from roughly $4 billion when the system was first launched in 2022 to around $2 billion in late 2025.

Why the channel is shrinking

Four overlapping drivers, in rough order of impact:

1. List narrowing — cosmetics first, clothing and electronics next

The most direct lever: the Industry and Trade Ministry has been progressively removing categories and brands from the parallel-import list. In 2025, cosmetics and perfumes from “unfriendly” countries were removed. The ministry has publicly signaled that clothing and electronics may be excluded next.

The logic is straightforward: Russian and friendly-country supply has grown sufficiently in these categories that the demand previously served by parallel imports can be redirected. Russian beauty manufacturers and brands from China, Turkey, and the UAE now fill the gap.

For a foreign fashion brand, this means a clothing exclusion would do two things simultaneously:

• Cut off the grey channel that competes with your legal-channel listings on price.
• Force Russian consumers to switch to whatever is officially available — which is what you sell.

2. Kazakhstan transit clampdown

In late 2025, on a directive from the President, Russian customs received broader powers to seize shipments transiting through Kazakhstan that lack full documentation. Kazakhstan was a major grey-channel routing path: goods entered Kazakhstan under one set of documents and crossed into Russia under another, with the intermediate journey obscuring the original consignor.

The clampdown does not stop legitimate Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) trade — Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan all retain their normal EAEU privileges. It stops the specific abuse pattern where third-country goods used Kazakhstan as a launder-and-pass jurisdiction.

3. Demand substitution by friendly-country supply

The other side of the same equation: Chinese, Turkish, UAE, Indian, and Iranian brands have moved into the gaps left by Western departures. Ozon Global reached its 100,000 Chinese seller target (set in November 2022) by late 2025. Turkish brands now account for roughly 47% of Asian retail presence in Russia, with 71 Asian brands operating by March 2025 (2.4× the 30 present pre-2022).

A Russian consumer in 2026 looking for a phone case, a winter jacket, or a kitchen blender increasingly does not need a parallel-imported Western brand. The friendly-country alternative is on the shelf and on Ozon.

4. Cost and reliability of grey-channel sourcing

Parallel imports always carried a premium. The intermediate jurisdiction, the documentation cost, the lack of warranty support, the inability to claim VAT through the standard channel — all stack up. As Russian and friendly-country direct supply has built out, the price advantage of parallel imports has eroded. Wholesale buyers and marketplaces have rebalanced toward the cleaner channel.

What stays in parallel imports

The Ministry has indicated that some categories will remain in the parallel-import scheme on a more permanent footing. The most likely persistent categories are:

• Spare parts and components for industrial equipment where no domestic or friendly-country substitute exists.
• Specific consumer electronics segments where Russian and Chinese alternatives are not yet competitive (some premium audio, certain professional gear).
• Pharmaceuticals and medical devices where the rights-holder withholds supply.

Categories like cosmetics, fashion, mass-market consumer electronics, and household goods are progressively being moved off the list as supply substitutes materialize.

What this means for a foreign fashion brand

The narrowing of parallel imports is a structural tailwind for foreign brands entering legally. Three practical implications:

1. Your competitive set is shrinking on the grey side

Today, a Russian shopper looking for “branded jeans” sees three sources: Russian brands, friendly-country brands, and parallel-imported Western brands (Levi’s, Tommy Hilfiger, etc.). When clothing exits the parallel-import list, that third source disappears — leaving Russian and friendly-country brands to capture the spend.

If you are a Turkish, Chinese, or UAE fashion brand selling on Ozon, you are positioned in the second of those three categories. The list narrowing reduces direct competition.

2. Customs friction is increasingly an asymmetric advantage for legal entry

The Kazakhstan transit clampdown raises the cost and risk of grey-channel sourcing without raising the cost of legal-channel sourcing. A foreign brand shipping on its own trademark, with EAC certification, through Ozon Global or WB cross-border, passes through customs cleanly. A parallel importer doing creative routing through Kazakhstan faces an enforcement environment that did not exist in 2022–2024.

3. The legal-channel volume tailwind is durable, not cyclical

This is not a one-off 2026 effect. The cosmetics exclusion already happened. The clothing exclusion is signaled. The Kazakhstan clampdown is enforced. Russia’s import policy direction through 2027 is consistent: contract the grey channel, expand the legal channel, prefer friendly-country supply.

If your strategic question is “should we launch in Russia or wait?”, the policy direction argues for launching now. The relative competitive advantage of legal-channel entry is highest while the grey-channel competition is still in the market and being progressively removed.

What this does not mean

Two caveats matter:

The grey channel is not gone. $20.9B (Jan–Nov 2025) is still substantial. Parallel imports still exist for Western brands where rights holders refuse to operate in Russia. A foreign brand on Ozon competes with parallel-imported Apple, Zara, and similar — for now.

Sanctions on the source side are unchanged. This policy shift is Russia’s import policy, not Western sanctions policy. A brand from a Western jurisdiction (US, EU, UK, etc.) still faces export-control and reputational considerations on the source-country side that this article does not address. The structural shift is most relevant for brands in Turkey, China, UAE, India, Iran, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil, and similar non-Western jurisdictions.

FAQ

Is parallel import still legal in Russia in 2026? Yes, but the list of eligible goods has contracted. The Industry and Trade Ministry maintains and updates the list — cosmetics and perfumes from “unfriendly” countries were removed in 2025, and clothing and electronics have been signaled as possible next exclusions. Categories not on the list require the trademark holder’s consent for import, as in any normal jurisdiction.

Why did parallel imports fall 45% in 2025? Four overlapping drivers: list narrowing (cosmetics removed), the Kazakhstan transit clampdown, friendly-country supply substitution, and erosion of the parallel-import price advantage as direct channels built out.

Will Russia ban parallel imports completely? Unlikely in the near term — the Ministry has indicated some categories (industrial parts, specific electronics, some pharmaceuticals) will remain on a more permanent footing. But for consumer-facing categories with viable substitutes, the direction is exclusion.

Does this affect Western brands that are still in Russia? Western brands that operate in Russia directly (a smaller group, but not zero) are not affected — parallel imports were only ever for brands that refused to authorize import. The narrowing affects parallel importers, not authorized importers.

How should a foreign brand plan around this? Treat the policy direction as a structural tailwind. The window for legal-channel entry is widest while the grey-channel competition is still being removed. Launching in 2026 catches a multi-year demand reallocation; waiting until 2027–2028 means competing for share in a more crowded legal channel after the friendly-country first-movers have established their ranking.

Where this fits in the launch plan

Parallel-import policy is one of three structural tailwinds in the 2026 picture, alongside Ozon’s cross-border infrastructure and WB’s expanded cross-border seller programs. We cover the full structural picture in the Russia Fashion Entry Playbook 2026 and the Foreign Fashion Brand → Russia complete guide. For category-specific positioning against the narrowing grey channel, see the Ozon vs Wildberries breakdown.

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Sources

• Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov statement, January 9, 2026 — Russia parallel-import flow January–November 2025: $20.9 billion (−45% YoY). Coverage via Moscow Times, Interfax, TASS, Izvestia, United24 Media.
• Industry and Trade Ministry — list narrowing communications, cosmetics and perfumes exclusion 2025, signals on clothing and electronics for 2026.
• TASS (December 2025) — full-year 2025 parallel-import total $23.1B.
• Presidential directive — late-2025 Kazakhstan transit oversight enhancement, customs seizure powers.
• Russian Federal Customs Service — monthly statistical releases.
• Nikoliers retail real estate tracking, March 2025 — Asian brand presence, Turkey 47% share, 71 Asian brands operating.
• Ozon press, EqualOcean, Yicai Global — Chinese seller scale on Ozon Global.