Statement released after Nintendo Russia CEO accused of running import company to bypass sales ban
We heard last year that Nintendo had halted shipments to Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. However, it’s being reported that the head of Nintendo’s Russian division seemingly set up a secondary company to import and sell games to get around the ban. Meanwhile, the Big N itself has also weighed in with an official statement.
Kommersant reports that Metroid Prime Remastered is being sold in Russia through Achivka. Yasha Haddazhi, who’s leading things over at Nintendo Russia, is apparently importing Nintendo games and consoles. Haddazji apparently founded Achivka last December and is the majority owner. Ksenia Kachalova is also a minority owner.
Nintendo put out an official statement about the situation, which you can read below.
In early 2022, Nintendo suspended shipping products to Russia, and placed Nintendo eShop under maintenance following the suspension of transactions in Russian rubles by the payment provider. Following this, and as a result of the economic outlook, Nintendo of Europe has decided to wind down operations of its Russian subsidiary.
We will maintain a minimal presence in Russia to complete the wind-down process, and to fulfil legal, contractual and administrative requirements. Employees in Moscow received individual compensation packages, and their contracts ended by mutual agreement and with our appreciation for their efforts.
We continue to investigate solutions to honour preceding commitments to our customers in the Russian market. In this vein and a spirit of transparency, we are in advanced discussions with potential suppliers of repair and warranty service for Nintendo products that had already been sold in the Russian market, with LLC Achivka being one such potential supplier.
We are aware that several companies in Russia operate parallel imports of goods, including Nintendo products. Nintendo is not affiliated with such companies and has no involvement in parallel import activities in Russia.
In case our Russian customers have questions regarding our products or services, we continue to encourage them to contact Customer Support.
This isn’t the first time Haddaji’s name has come up when it comes to controversy. Fans weren’t pleased with business decisions that were being made as well as his conduct. We have more information about that here and here.
