Read a live blog of the war in Ukraine from Wednesday 6 December here

Lestate, a Russian importer of Western brand clothing, will sell Adidas and Reebok products in Russia. That reports Russian newspaper Commercial. Both brands left the Russian market in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Presumably, Lestate would import products without Adidas and Reebok’s consent.

This week, Lestate will open an Adidas and Reebok store in a Moscow shopping center. Products from other Western clothing brands such as Nike and Levi’s, which have withdrawn from the Russian market, have been sold in Lestate stores since last fall. The importer plans to open more stores where western brand clothing is available.

Importing goods without permission is called parallel importation. From March 2022, the Russian government has allowed parallel imports of certain product categories. Apart from electronics and fossil fuels, this includes clothing and luxury goods.

Russian imports of shoes and other clothing, especially from Asian countries, have increased significantly since then. Countries such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia, which form a customs union with Russia, serve as transit countries for products from China, India, and Vietnam, for example.

Don de Vries