American tech giant Apple was one of several Western companies to leave Russia in March following the start of the invasion of Ukraine. But the Russian government assures its citizens will still be able to own the brand new iPhone 14 announced this week. And thanks to a parallel scheme, access to mobile phones will be provided.
When asked about the sale of new iPhones in Russia, Denis Manturov, minister of commerce and industry in Vladimir Putin’s government, said, “Why not? If consumers want to buy these phones, yes. There will be an opportunity.” The information is from the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
According to Manturov, the sale of Apple’s new smartphone can be made through the government’s parallel import program, which was established in March. It was an immediate response to the departure of large numbers of companies from the country since the beginning of the war. Through the measure, the government has legalized retailers to import products without permission from the brand owner.
About a month ago, Manturov stated that parallel imports resulted in sales and since then about US$6.5 billion (R$33.7 billion) has moved together in Russia.
Even without taking these imports into account, iPhones, MacBooks, and other Apple products are still sold in Russian retail, as not all stocks in the country have yet been sold.
According to the Reuters news agency, MTS, Russia’s largest telephone operator, is already accepting orders for the pre-sale of the iPhone 14. The most basic smartphone of the new line costs 84.9 thousand rubles (R $ 7,200), and the company claims that the delivery of the order can take up to 120 days.
*With information from Reuters
source: Noticias
