Thanks to Moscow’s Parallel import scheme, Russians will still be able to obtain the latest release iPhone 14, even if Apple has ceased sales operations in the country.
Denis Manturov, Russian Trade and Industry Minister, was asked in a report if the new iPhone 14 will be available to Russian consumers, and he simply responded: “Why not? If consumers want to buy these phones, yes. There will be the opportunity.”
In March of this year, Apple chose to join the sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine by suspending all online product sales and banning all shipments to the country. The Russian government, on the other hand, has devised a workaround that will enable Russian consumers to obtain items that are not available in the country.
They call it “parallel imports,” and it involves Russian shops looking for third-party sellers in the country where Apple operates, then importing it to the country since this form of import does not require approval from the manufacturing company.
Then, as expected, pre-orders for the iPhone 14 began to appear on the Russian mobile network MTS. The iPhone costs about 84,990 roubles ($1,398). The only disadvantage is that there is still a chance that the pre-order will be canceled if the Russian store does not get any available stock, and delivery might take up to nearly 4 months (120 days).
