McDonalds, Starbucks, Ikea. Or should we say… Uncle Vanya, Stars Coffee, IDEA?
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, many big western brands shut their operations in Russia and left the world’s eleventh largest economy. But these businesses were incredibly popular with the Russian people. Many of them were potent symbols of post-Cold War Russia, and became a part of the Russian people’s lifestyle and culture. Their abrupt closures left a gaping hole.
But now the void is being filled by Russian entrepreneurs. The amount of knock-off brands has shot up since the war began. And these aren’t unlicensed knock offs you might see when you’re travelling overseas. These are government sanctioned knock offs. These are going to be big Russian businesses, copycats of their western counterparts. Today Darcy and Sascha ask – what’s happening with these Russian knockoffs, and is anyone trying to stop them?