THE PLUMBING MARKET IN RUSSIA UNDER SANCTIONS

Major international brands leave the market, while medium brands remain

The head of the interior design studio Bespace Studio, Dina Salakhova, reports that the well-known German brands Duravit and Villeroy & Boch have finally left Russia.

At the same time, manufacturers from Italy, Spain, Hungary, and Poland continue working with Russia bringing products via other countries.

Focus on medium and low-price segments; private label trend

When it comes to bathroom fittings, the sales of elite brands have significantly declined. “Suppliers working with a high-price segment have started to bring products in the medium and low-price segments to the market. They also create new products, start selling cheaper lines or models,” says Sergey Denisenko, Head of the press service, Vseinstrumenty.ru (major online retailer). He constitutes that lots of suppliers aim at becoming exclusive representatives of international brands in the Russian Federation. Before, they were engaged only in the foreign products’ import, now some of them are starting their own production.

As for engineering plumbing, the situation is somewhat different. Mr. Denisenko notes that most of the manufacturers have factories in Russia, and the main difficulties arise with the import of components required in production. Therefore, they have to search for new partners and rebuild existing supply chains.

The expert emphasizes that the average prices in the plumbing market grew by 10% over the past five months.