Nintendo Russia CEO running import company to skirt official sales ban – report

The controversial boss of Nintendo’s Russian division has reportedly set up a secondary company to import and sell Nintendo games, skirting the Super Mario maker’s official Russian sales ban.

Nintendo officially halted product shipments to Russia in March 2022, and said its decision would remain in place for the “forseeable future”. Nintendo also shut down its digital eShop in the region, citing “the suspension of transactions in Rubles by the payment provider”.

Now, a report by Russian outlet Kommersant has highlighted the recent sale of Metroid Prime Remastered in Russia by a company named Achivka, which has been set up by Nintendo Russia boss Yasha Haddazhi to import Nintendo games and consoles to Russian game stores.

The report states that Achivka was founded by Haddazji in December 2022, and he is its majority owner. Another Nintendo Russia employee, corporate events manager Ksenia Kachalova, is listed as a minority owner. Achivka’s listed legal address is also the same as Nintendo’s Russian headquarters.

While it is legal in Russia for anyone to import goods without the manufacturer’s approval, the report raises questions over Nintendo’s involvement with Achivka, and the extent to which it was aware it was importing Nintendo products into Russia, and being run by its local branch CEO.

Nintendo did not respond to a request for comment by Kommersant. Eurogamer has contacted Nintendo itself for more information, and to ask whether Nintendo believes it appropriate its most senior Russian employee is involved.

This isn’t the first time Nintendo’s controversial Russian boss has hit the headlines. In 2018, Nintendo confirmed to Eurogamer it was investigating Haddaji’s conduct after footage of him verbally abusing hosts of a Mario Kart stream was widely-shared online.

Russian Nintendo fans called for Haddaji to be removed, though the company ultimately let Haddaji off with a slapped wrist.

“Going forward, Nintendo of Europe will be providing more resources to Nintendo Russia to support their efforts to bring Nintendo products and experiences to Russian players,” Nintendo said in a 2019 statement, having finished its investigation.

“We want to ensure that the conduct of all our employees is in line with Nintendo’s company values, and we remain committed to upholding these standards in the future.”

Nintendo sits among a long list of other video games companies which have abandoned Russia for the time being, including Microsoft, PlayStation, EA, CD Projekt, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, and Take-Two.