Nike Set to Exit Russia as Resale Contracts End
American sport giant, Nike is on the verge of pulling its brand out of Russia following its stand not to renew Nike’s agreements with authorised resellers in Russia.
This is coming at a sensitive time as contracts between two of Nike’s largest authorised Russian retailers is set to expire in less than 24 hours (on May 26th) as reported by the Vedomosti business newspaper.
Nike has officially decided against extending contracts or signing new deals in Russia due to what it termed “operational difficulties.” This was revealed by a Nike representative who added that the company continues to make payments to Russian employees.
It should be recalled that Nike temporarily shut down all its stores in Russia in early March in protest against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, although some of its independent authorized retailers continued to operate.
However, Russia’s Inventive Retail Group (IRG), which operates 37 of the country’s 56 remaining authorized Nike stores, said stock shipments had already been suspended and supplies were running out.
“In our current situation, we cannot continue to support the operation of single brand [Nike] stores and will be forced to close them,” IRG’s head of public relations, Ludmila Semushina affirmed.
Source: Vedomosti Business Newspaper
