HP and Fujitsu servers can be excluded from the list of parallel imports
The Ministry of Industry and Trade intends to limit the import of laptops and servers of foreign manufacturers of HP and Fujitsu electronics. Market participants believe that such a step will allow Russian manufacturers to sell computer equipment. In the consumer segment, the proposal for HP and Fujitsu will be significantly reduced, and it is also worth expecting the exclusion of other brands from the list permitted for import to the Russian Federation without the permission of the copyright holder, experts say.
“Kommersant” got acquainted with the draft amendments to Decree No. 506 “On Products (Groups of Products), in respect of which cannot be applied …” the Ministry of Industry and Trade. In it, the ministry proposes to exclude the laptop and servers of the American company Hewlett Packard (HP) and the Japanese Fujitsu from the list of parallel imports. Moreover, other products of these vendors are still allowed for import without permission from the copyright holder. The Ministry of Industry and Trade did not respond to the request “Kommersant”.
According to Kommersant sources, changes to Decree No. 506 are currently at the stage of interagency coordination, so the publication of the order will be determined based on the results of the completion of this procedure.
In early February, the First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov instructed the Ministry of Industry and Trade to work out the issue of excluding from the list a parallel import of part of the products produced in the Russian Federation, then the interlocutors suggested that we were talking about American HP and Dell (See “Kommersant” from April 3). Then, the market participants proposed, together with the restriction of parallel imports on a number of foreign brands, introduce subsidizing sales of Russian electronics in the consumer sector, etc. (See “Kommersant” from March 25).
According to Kommersant’s interlocutor among electronics manufacturers, about 75–80% in the basic X86-server solutions were Dell and Lenovo, the American HP was also one of the leaders, but the Japanese Fujitsu occupied an extremely small share.
“The absence of Dell in the list of exception raises a big question, since this vendor ranked third in the Russian market and actively grew,” he says.
HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise, server manufacturer) ranks fifth among foreign vendors of server equipment, says the director of Probit (produces computing equipment under the Bitblaze brand) Maxim Koposov, adding that the manufacturer’s share has already decreased by 58% over the past year. “It is not very clear what will mean the exclusion from the list of these brands – holding accountable for violation of these companies will begin, but it is not clear who in this case will be the plaintiff,” he adds.
The initiative was worked out for almost a year, during this period “an argument was prepared, including the analysis of the presence of products of the corresponding brands in the Russian market, the production volumes of domestic manufacturers, as well as the selection of possible analogues”, explains the head of ANO “Computing equipment” (Yadro, “Aquarius”, Kraftway, etc.) Svetlana Legostaeva.
126 thousand
Foreign servers were delivered in the Russian Federation in 2023, according to the FCS.
The need for laptops and server equipment in the Russian Federation can be completely satisfied due to official supplies to the country and domestic manufacturers, says a representative of the manufacturer of FPlus electronics. “The presence of a parallel import mechanism extremely negatively affects Russian manufacturers and largely discredits the implemented measures of state support,” he believes, adding that the list of exception should be significantly expanded.
The restriction of the HP and Fujitsu imports will allow to increase the sales of domestic brands, said the first vice-president of Aquarius Group of Companies Dmitry Titov. However, he believes, in addition to this, it is necessary to introduce a complete ban on the purchase of foreign equipment on public procurement instead of the current restriction in the form of the “second extra” rule (if the domestic manufacturer has not entered the tender, the company can purchase foreign equipment).
Most likely, the state will continue to exclude foreign brands of electronics from the list for parallel imports for the development of internal vendors, says independent analyst Alexander Surkov. “It is also necessary against the background of the trade war between the United States and China, as Asian companies will begin to supply products to friendly countries, including the Russian Federation, at more attractive prices and in more voluminous parties,” he emphasizes. According to Mr. Surkov, in the consumer segment of laptops, proposals for HP and Fujitsu will be significantly reduced, but single specimens will still be able to get to the Russian market.
