New Rules of Wildberries: What Changes for Armenian Sellers

According to a statement from the Ministry of Economy, it is now required to present a certificate of origin for selling Armenian products on the Wildberries platform.

“According to our national legislation, when products are imported from third countries into Armenia, both customs duties and VAT are paid in Armenia. If that product is re-exported, the VAT must be refunded to the business by Armenia. Recently, Armenian importers were bringing goods from China and other countries, clearing customs, paying VAT in Armenia, but selling them in Russia. According to both our and Russian legislation, VAT is paid in the country where it is sold. This means that products were being sold from Armenia to Russia without paying VAT there; it was being paid in Armenia,” explained economist Suren Pasyan in an interview with Aysor.am.

According to him, in order to avoid such issues and allow Armenian products to be sold unhindered in Russia, the requirement to present a certificate of origin was made mandatory. “If the product is manufactured in Armenia, there will be no issue at the time of export, but if it is imported from China, then the VAT must be paid already in Russia,” he noted.

Pasyan mentions that Armenia can also adopt a mirror approach towards Russian companies that sell Chinese and Vietnamese products in Armenia through Wildberries.

It is noteworthy that for a long time, Armenian producers were unable to sell on Wildberries. The economist added that there is no statistics on what losses our businesses have incurred during this time. “Certainly, it was a significant loss, especially for local producers who are entering the EAEU market through online networks, which is a market of 180 million people,” he remarked.