Russia's used vehicle import business has been hit hard by an increase in the tariff on imported vehicles to protect the domestic automobile industry.

In Vladivostok, where most Japanese used vehicles enter Russia — the secondhand vehicle business is regarded as the city's largest industry — unemployment and bankruptcies are mounting.

"The time of the Japanese-made used vehicle business is over," said Igor Lyakhta, 42, president of a company that has sold vehicles in Vladivostok for more than 10 years. His company sold 300 vehicles a month on average last year, but this year the number has plunged to 30 after the tariff was raised last January.