30-50% of the auto oil market in Russia consists of counterfeit products. This data is provided by “Izvestia” Member of the Board of Directors of the Automobile Services Association Ilya Plisov.
Engine oils are included in the list of goods allowed to be imported into the Russian Federation through parallel import channels. The products include well-known brands such as Castrol, Shell, Total.
“However, there is no parallel oil import in significant quantities,” says Plisov.
The expert pointed out: Not a single importer had oil reserves in storage for several years, so the existing reserves had already expired.
Tatyana Ovchinnikova, director of the Fit Service network of service stations, believes that in 2000-2021, 10-15% of fake engine oil was sold, and since the beginning of 2022, the share of fake engine oil has increased to 30%.
But, like two years ago, you can buy Mobil, Toyota, Castrol, NGN, Shell, BARDAHL and Liqui Moly oils in stores. According to Ovchinnikova, no one can now provide real guarantees on the quality of such products.
“The brand owners who left the market do not make any claims. The situation is that those who should care about the absence of fake goods on the market have disappeared,” Plisov notes.
Before that, in January-September 2023, Russian customs authorities defined 3.2 million counterfeit units, which is 2.2 times less than in the same period last year.
Previously reportedIt is noted that Russian consumers are almost not protected against deception by companies and are not always aware of their rights, so the problem must be resolved at the legislative level.