Russian smugglers import luxury cars from Europe despite sanctions

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

50% : Since the EU tightened restrictions in July on luxury goods entering Belarus -- once a popular third country through which to import to Russia -- smugglers are using increasingly long and expensive routes to ship the vehicles.
50% : The FT identified several cars with Autohaus Reisert licence plates advertised on Auto.ru.EU officials are aware that luxury cars are still ending up in Russia, but their main focus is now on tackling sanctions evasion relating to more dangerous goods that can be used by the military.
47% : Russian smugglers are charging tens of thousands of euros to import luxury cars from Europe, as EU sanctions in response to Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine hit the country's wealthy.
45% : The Financial Times has identified five Russian companies offering to smuggle cars from Europe with engine sizes sufficient to come under EU sanctions, which were imposed in 2022 as part of a ban on the export of luxury goods to the country.
41% : "The supply of European cars to Russia comes despite the EU boosting sanctions since President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in an effort to choke Moscow's war machine and provoke dissatisfaction with the regime.

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