13 Feb 2023 10:38

Deputy Industry and Trade minister proposes setting minimum quotas for Russian goods on store shelves

ST. PETERSBURG. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Yevtukhov tabled a proposal Friday to require retailers to carry a certain share of Russian products in their stores.

"Our initiative is to introduce an obligation for Russian retailers to have a certain amount of domestic goods on shelves," Yevtukhov said at the X5 Group forum Big Shelf for Small Business.

Criteria for selection of such goods would include production in Russia and ownership of manufacturing facilities and trademarks by Russian citizens, he said.

"Such an approach will make it possible to avoid supporting pseudo-Russian goods, profits on which go abroad, and add to the development of our competencies," Yevtukhov said.

X5 Retail Group, Russia's largest retailer, estimates that foreign goods make up only 6% of goods at its stores, the company's president, Yekaterina Lobachyova told reporters on Friday.

"Right now it's more than 92% domestic producers on the shelves of X5 retail chains. [...] We should appreciate that we have imports. Not everything is grown and produced in Russia. The share of imports in our chains is now 6%, it does not change in any way from year to year," Lobachyova said on the sidelines of the conference, adding that this proportion could remain the same in future.