According to estimates by the Federal Customs Service of Russia, in the third quarter of 2023, footwear imports to Russia increased by 47% year-on-year, to 106,5 million pairs. Imports account for 56% of the total volume of shoes sold in Russia, which is the highest figure in the last two years, shoeinteligence.com provides such data in its article.
According to Igor Ulyanov, vice-president of the Russian Union of Entrepreneurs of Textile and Light Industry Soyuzlegprom, the increase in footwear imports to Russia at the end of 2023 is primarily associated with the development of parallel imports.
The Russian government approved parallel imports in March 2022 in response to Western sanctions and the exodus of Western brands from the country. According to Igor Ulyanov, Russian shoe importers took full advantage of the situation, and the lion's share of imported shoes by the end of 2023 passed through parallel channels.
“The Russian market has adapted to new external conditions,” Ulyanov noted, explaining that after Western sanctions, a wide range of goods to which Russian buyers were accustomed disappeared from the shelves. An increase in supplies at the end of 2023 showed that Russian companies managed to return them to the market.
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