Since the spring of 2022, many brands have decided to leave – temporarily or permanently – Russian soil, following the outbreak of war by Moscow. After a year of armed conflict, it should therefore be impossible to find luxury goods from European brands on Russian shelves, such as medicines or consumer goods. And yet, according to a survey by luxury media Glitz, this is far from the case. The cause ? A change in the legislation on counterfeiting, since March 2022.
Indeed, since March 7, 2022, entities – companies or individuals – whose products are counterfeited on the ground are no longer compensated. The Russian move came after the European Union decided on several economic sanctions packages. This measure concerns all stages of marketing: import, export and sale. Concretely, counterfeiting is still prohibited in Russia, at least on paper. What has changed is that patent theft is no longer illegal.
According to our colleagues from BFM Business, the reality on the ground is very different. Indeed, it is not uncommon for Russian customs officials to allow counterfeit goods into the country. Specifically, of the entire volume of counterfeits, part is sold in Russia while the other is exported to other regions and countries.
This accusation seems to be corroborated by an encrypted and totally public element. In May 2022 alone, Turkish exports to Russia increased by 46% compared to the previous year. By October 2022, Russian exports had doubled. However, according to an estimate by European customs officials dating from March 2019, Turkey is one of the main stocks of counterfeits in the world, just behind Asia. For example, in 2019, it accounted for 19% of the volume of counterfeits entering the European Union. Moscow can also count on allied countries to bring in these fake products: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia or even Kyrgyzstan.
In addition to luxury goods, this phenomenon would also affect medicines and even consumer products sold in hypermarkets. This practice is far from new in Russia. In 2011, according to the Russian news agency Ria-Novosti, counterfeits accounted for “15 to 30% of cosmetics, perfumery, clothing, cleaning products and foodstuffs”. We also find the list of the main countries that supplied Russia with fake products at the time: China, India, Turkey, Poland… or even Ukraine.