A counterfeit segment of the Russian sporting goods market is experiencing a renaissance. In the 1990s, the market was filled with cheap, low-quality fakes, both imported and of local origin. The shadow segment was believed to have been defeated by a combination of strict government control and a hike in population incomes. However, the issue is growing pressing again, according to sources.
The share of counterfeit fake products on the market has been expanding since 2022, Artur Movsesyan, founder of the sports brand Jögel, told a local business newspaper, Vedomosti.
“When [Western] brands officially stopped their activities in Russia, there were still some goods left in warehouses. They were sold for six months to a year. As soon as the stock ran out, fakes began to appear en masse on the market,” Movsesyan admitted.
Fake products are flooding because of the Russian government
Russian sporting goods retailers largely blamed parallel imports for the crisis. This tool, kicked off by the Russian government in May 2024, allows Russian businesses to import products from companies that pulled out of the country without the brand’s owner’s consent. According to Movsesyan, these rules have made the supply chain untransparent, including for customs officials.
Poor quality gives away a fake, as counterfeit goods are usually manufactured with cheap materials and uneven printing.
“The biggest problem is that most buyers do not understand that this is a counterfeit,” Movsesyan said, admitting that many customers are not getting suspicious over extremely low prices, which could make only a third or a quarter of the original product.
The counterfeit segment is expanding at a pace that will allow it to claim already half of the entire market in the foreseeable future.
Up to 40% of the Russian market is made up of counterfeit goods
“According to our estimates, the share of counterfeit goods on the Russian market is 30-40%,” Konstantin Shestera, COO of Vlasta-Consulting, a Moscow-based consultancy representing the interests of Adidas and several other brands in the country. “The main problem is that many foreign companies, after leaving the Russian market, stopped protecting their brands”.
In recent years, Western companies have not taken any steps against companies found selling fake goods under their brands. As a result, Shestera admitted, fake sellers can easily get away with this, not suffering any penalty.
Marketplaces are also desperately struggling against the inflow of counterfeit goods. In the first quarter of 2024, nearly 2 million sellers were blocked at the largest marketplaces Wildberries, Ozon, Yandex Market, and AliExpress Russia by the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service over ground of selling fakes. Sporting goods were the most popular category among these unscrupulous businesses.
Shestera admitted that the fight against fake goods is relatively weak in Russia, and even companies still operating on the market do not always find it reasonable to file lawsuits against fraudsters.
“Often counterfeit goods are sold by small entrepreneurs or individuals, and it is impossible to receive significant compensation from them,” he added.
