When Russia decided to launch an attack against Ukraine, many Western companies left. Although this situation grabbed headlines and evacuated parts of shopping malls across the country, the solution was not long in coming. almost today Two years after the Russian Army entered UkraineDespite the decision of all these companies, there is no mystery for the Russian consumer in finding Coca-Cola, Zara clothes, Lego toys or iPhones. leave the country and stop selling their products To Russian citizens.
In the aisles of Russian supermarkets there was a flurry of brands vying to replace Coca-Cola, the great standard of soft drinks. Many brands such as Cool-Cola, Dobry Cola, Loco Cola, Dubl Bubl, Super Cola tried to take their place. But, Coca-Cola has made a comebackTheir packaging includes sports labels in languages such as Kazakh, Georgian, Polish or Albanian, in countries where this soft drink is still produced and openly exported.
“We are Russians, We’re used to tricks to get through famineeven if it is something that is not necessary,” says Vasily. “We have already experienced this in the Soviet period with the Texans, or more recently with the Belarusian oysters,” he adds with a smile. During the Soviet period, owning jeans was a status symbol, because they were rare to obtain, since they were not produced on national territory. The so-called “Belarusian oysters” were the result of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the subsequent sanctions it imposed on European products. But the law was passed, the trap was set, this is known both in Russia and in Belarus. It brought Russia both political and cultural Belarus, which is very close in terms of Export products from EU countries to your “big brother”This is something that is all too obvious for some products, such as fish or seafood, due to Belarus being landlocked.
Another of the most iconic products, Replacing iPhones has never been easier and that wasn’t possible until parallel imports were allowed, sort of legal smuggling This application allows the sale of products without the permission of the original manufacturer, which does not return the desired phones. Although they are a little more expensive than the originals, it is possible to buy the newest Apple model in most device and phone stores without having to search the Russian capital.
When you ask the clerks in these stores, most of them don’t know where it comes from. However, according to reports in some Western media, most of the products are imported this way. They come from related countries such as Iran and Türkiye. The latter became an important connection point for goods and people traveling from Russia to the West and from Russia to the West. A salesperson explains: “Although I can’t tell you which country it comes from, don’t worry, it has all warranties and the device can be configured in Russian.” He acknowledges that although most of the functionality is active, “anything that cannot be used on Russian territory will be ‘limited’.” Netflix, Spotify, Instagram or Twitter cannot be used without using VPN networksand in some cases it isn’t even that.
It’s a strange rivalry
In addition to exports; The other solution is to do it the Russian way.. Although the Zarina clothing brand has existed for years, it has benefited greatly from the departure of the famous Spanish brand Zara from the country. The Spanish giant also faced strange competition from the online store ‘Kupi Zara’ (Buy from Zara), which helped Russians continue to buy clothes from this brand.
Other examples with varying success rates include: fast food restaurants and cafes. McDonald’s and KFC were replaced by Vkusno and tochka (Delicious and period) and Rostiks respectively. Even the famous McDonald’s in the center of Moscow, the only restaurant opened in the Soviet Union, was closed, and Russian businessmen quickly seized the opportunity to do business. It is difficult to distinguish from the original because The aesthetics of the restaurants, the product and even the packaging are very similar to each other.
There is not much difference for consumers because both the machines and the products used are almost the same. “I know it’s not healthy, it’s just junk food after all, They just changed the name of the burger” admits Lyudmila. So similar that at the beginning of their business journey, they had to start with the American chain’s sauces, even though they were sold with their logo crossed out with a pencil.