OREANDA-NEWS The majority of motorists in Russia are in favor of extending the parallel import of foreign cars, according to a study by VTB group, which is available to RIA Novosti.

As experts found out, after interviewing almost 1.5 thousand respondents who own cars or plan to buy in the coming year, the majority (60%) believe that parallel car imports should be supported. According to 8%, the import of cars through such a channel should be tightened, and almost a third (32%) found it difficult to answer.

At the same time, a third of the respondents (35%) are familiar with the concept of "parallel import" of cars, they have heard something about such a channel, but do not know the details - 39%. 21% do not know anything about such a mechanism for importing foreign cars, the rest found it difficult to answer.

Those who support parallel imports most often justify their position by saying that "everyone has the right to choose a vehicle" and "this is the only way to buy high-quality European, Japanese and Korean cars now."

More than a third of them (39%) wanted to establish or expand supplies of Japanese cars through such a channel, 28% prefer European cars, a quarter (24%) favor Korean, and the rest favor American brands.

Those who spoke out against supporting parallel imports, most often the opinion is justified by the need to develop the domestic car industry, and not to buy foreign cars abroad. Also, Russians do not consider this channel important, since premium cars are mainly brought through it, and the mass market needed by the majority of the population goes through official channels, the materials say.

At the end of December, Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, told RIA Novosti that the government had decided to extend the mechanism of parallel imports for 2024, in general, constant work is underway to adjust it: a gradual reduction in the list and nomenclature is expected. The current procedure will be in effect until February 1, 2024.