Not a single new foreign brand entered the Russian market in the first five months of 2026
Not a single new foreign brand entered the Russian market in the first five months of 2026, the Russian business daily Vedomosti reported, citing a report by the consulting firm CORE.XP.
CORE.XP analysts said a comparable situation had not arisen during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, nor in the first half of 2022 after Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine.
Other experts polled by Vedomosti said they had not recorded the entry of any new foreign brand this year, at least through the end of the first quarter.
Foreign companies are not currently willing to invest in the Russian market, the experts said, pointing to the “general macroeconomic environment and cooling consumer demand” as likely factors. Russia’s state statistics agency, Rosstat, has been recording a decline in the consumer confidence index, Vedomosti noted, while foot traffic at shopping centers across the country is falling.
After Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine, many foreign companies halted investments or withdrew from the Russian market altogether. However, some international firms continue to operate in Russia, and products from brands that have officially left the market are still available, including through so-called “parallel imports.”
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