One of Russia's ways of showing that nothing has changed in the economic structure of the country after the invasion of Ukraine (as a result of the neglect of brands) is local copies of brands that are recognized around the world.
Although most Western brands left Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, their products are easy to find inside the country. According to “Reuters”, the only difference now is that product delivery times are longer and some products are more expensive.
Local copies of brands recognized around the world were already a very pronounced reality in Ukraine with the start of the war, and many see this strategy as a way to provide apparent normalcy to the Russian economic structure.
El Economista tells us that when Sweet House opens its doors in the winter of 2021, this homewares brand with a clear Scandinavian meaning is one of the local companies operating in the shadows. The same happened at Zarina clothing stores and Starz Coffee coffee shop, whose (mostly phonetic) reference to the original brand is evident.
At the end of February this year, you can read in the press that trucks loaded with Coca-Cola crossed the border of Russia, tourists returned with the latest news from Zara, and local online markets bought a whole lot of Ikea furniture. . Despite the brands trying to leave the Russian market, their products remain there.
This fact shows the difficulties brands and companies face when controlling supply chains after exiting the market.
As for Zara, parent company Inditex closed about 502 stores in Russia and sold them to the Dahr Group. But an analysis by “Reuters” shows that small-scale imports and online sellers continue to carry the brand's products.
Russia legalized so-called parallel imports after brands began leaving the country, allowing retailers to bring in manufacturers from abroad without the brand owner's permission.
Online electronics sites continue to sell a large portion of imported products, and sellers advertise that they bring in products from abroad. With products constantly available in physical and online stores, consumers need to know where to look. Most goods are not subject to sanctions and cross-border flows are legal.
In February of this year, a list drawn up by Yale University showed that 517 companies had definitively left Russia. Among these companies, the company highlights Accenture, Adidas, Aldi, BlackRock, BP, Cisco, Deloitte, H&M, IBM, LVMH, McDonald's, Netflix, Qantas Airlines, Starbucks.