Some Samsung smartphones brought to Russia as part of “parallel import” cannot be activated in the country. This is reported by Izvestia with reference to a source close to one of the retailers and experts in the field of consumer equipment.
According to Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group, the problem concerns about 20% of the company's smartphones imported into the country through "parallel imports". In May, 45-50 thousand Samsung smartphones entered the Russian Federation in this way, he specified.
The manufacturer requires that the smartphone be activated only in the countries for sale in which it is intended. When you try to insert a Russian operator's SIM card into a new smartphone, it is blocked. You can unlock the phone only in a service center for 5 thousand rubles, but you have to wait about two weeks. To activate the device, you can also insert the SIM card of an operator operating in the geographic area where Samsung officially shipped the gadget and talk on it for several minutes.
Samsung technical support confirmed that it is desirable to activate a new smartphone in the country in which it was purchased. Or bring into Russia with a new phone a SIM card of an operator operating in the state where the gadget was delivered. A source close to one of the phone sellers told the publication that several tens of thousands of buyers of Samsung devices imported as part of parallel imports could have difficulties with activation.
In May, the Ministry of Industry and Trade published a list of goods for parallel imports that can be imported into Russia without the permission of their copyright holder. The list contains about 60 items, which includes the entire range of manufactured goods, including a wide range of electronic devices.
The Russian government legalized parallel imports on 30 March. For goods included in the list for parallel imports, the international principle of “exhaustion” of trademark rights will be applied , that is, after the first sale of the original goods, they can be imported into Russia without the permission of the owner. This differs from the national principle of right ownership, which is usually in force in Russia, when the right holder controls all supplies, can prohibit their import and demand up to 5 million rubles in compensation in case of violation of the import conditions.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin justified this measure by "the need to meet the demand for goods containing the results of intellectual activity." Although the FAS proposed to legalize parallel imports back in 2018, it was introduced only with the start of tough sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine.
