Chechnya will now be able to make its own customs clearance of incoming freight. Yesterday, Vladimir Putin signed the resolution to lift the ban on Chechen customs. The resolution also lifts the ban on the import of goods to the republic.
Chechnya had the right to have its own customs in the early 1990s, during the days of Dzhokhar Dudayev. Everyone knows what it precipitated: the country was overrun with drugs and smuggled goods, followed by two Chechen campaigns and years of counter-terrorist operations (CTO), when no one, of course, could even think of customs or imports.
The CTO regime was lifted last spring. The republic's President, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that the mountains would become so quiet again that tourists would start coming back. In November, Grozny's airport became international, and the first pilgrims set off to Mecca. However, the government was in no hurry to allow Chechnya to register freight, maybe because it feared to find a new "Cherkizon", filled with goods coming through Grozny, somewhere in the Moscow Region one day. The Chechen government must have managed to convince Vladimir Putin that this scenario is impossible.
Still, will Russia see a surge of smuggled goods and weapons from the Chechen black market? It is possible, but only in theory. Chechnya has less favourable conditions for smuggling than the neighbouring Ingushetia and Dagestan. Individual cases of smuggling are the law enforcement agencies' concern; as for a possible surge of smuggling, the government can close the customs again at any time.
Vladimir Demchenko