Honor smartphone brand vow to start delivering smartphones to Russia via Uzbekistan, in a an attempt to return to the Russian market through its partners in the CIS countries.
Formerly owned by Huawei, Honor has stopped official deliveries of devices to Russia. The company has not made an official statement about leaving the Russian market. But the supply of devices to Russia was stopped in March.
Reportedly, now the Chinese company is looking for partners from Armenia, Georgia, and reached an agreement in Uzbekistan to export smartphones to Russia through parallel import.
The expansion of the distribution network in the CIS countries may prove that Honor will resume deliveries to Russia.
Working with distributors in the CIS allows the company to reduce the risk of sanctions, explained Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of Infoline-Analytics.
While consumer electronics will not be subject to the restrictions, Chinese companies have previously taken the safe route and limited supplies in anticipation of legalizing parallel imports, he added.
"Given the possible negative consequences of secondary sanctions, this format of minimizing risks for them seems logical. It is currently the strategy of many Chinese companies to reduce the risks of working with Russia and limit deliveries without any declarations," says Burmistrov.
On March 30, the Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, signed a government Resolution decriminalizing parallel imports. However, the State Duma approved the law on the legalization of parallel import in the third, final reading on June 21. It provides for the possibility of importing goods into Russia and using them without the consent of the manufacturer or copyright holder.
