The import of goods from the West to Russia halved over the year 0 9

The last channel for the supply of Western goods to Russia began to rapidly close in 2025. The volumes of 'parallel imports', which were launched shortly after the start of the war to supply the economy with products from departing Western companies, decreased by almost half by the end of last year, reported the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Anton Alikhanov.

From January to November 2025, goods worth $20.9 billion were imported into Russia through 'parallel import' mechanisms, that is, without the permission of the rights holder, which is 45% lower than the same period in 2024 ($37.9 billion).

Monthly volumes of parallel imports fell to $2 billion from $4 billion when the mechanism was just starting to operate. "The initial forecast of $25 billion in 2025 no longer seems relevant. Data from the Federal Customs Service of Russia indicates a persistent trend of significant reduction in parallel import volumes," said Alikhanov.

Last year, the government excluded cosmetics and perfumes from 'unfriendly' countries from the list of goods available for parallel import. The Ministry of Industry and Trade also announced the exclusion of clothing and equipment from parallel imports, which, according to the authorities, have been replaced by 'friendly' or domestic suppliers.

At the end of the year, a new headache for importers was brought by Vladimir Putin, who demanded to 'whiten' the supplies of goods coming through Kazakhstan. Customs officials were granted the right to confiscate cargo without a complete set of documents, and due to increased checks at the border, multi-kilometer queues arose.

According to importers and logistics experts, by November, up to 10% of all Russian imports were stuck at the border with Kazakhstan, which even created problems with assortment for some companies — primarily for sellers on marketplaces.

Overall import volumes in 2025 decreased slightly — by 2.4% compared to the previous year and by 5.4% compared to the pre-war 2021, experts from the Gaidar Institute write. "Positive dynamics are primarily demonstrated by goods of broad consumer demand, while groups concentrated on investment goods remain below pre-sanction volumes. This reflects both the ongoing sanctions restrictions in foreign trade and the high cost of borrowed funds, which limits investment activity," the experts point out.

According to the Federal Customs Service, from January to October, imported goods worth $224.4 billion were brought into Russia. By the end of the year, imports are expected to amount to $275 billion, forecasts the Gaidar Institute.