Russia has restricted the sale of Armenian products in Russian major online retailers Wildberries and Ozon, citing new customs requirements and demanding additional documents from sellers. Yerevan claimed that two Armenian opposition parties ‘are behind’ the developments related to Wildberries.
The news about the restrictions was shared on 1 May.
‘Due to changes in customs clearance procedures for goods imported into Russia, there have been temporary difficulties with deliveries from Armenia’, the Head of Ozon in Armenia, Hayk Karapetyan wrote in a Facebook post.
Karapetyan further stated that in order to prevent customers from cancelling orders due to delays in delivery, ‘we have temporarily hidden product listings for these products from customers in Russia’.
At the same time, he noted that all products from Armenian entrepreneurs ‘located in Ozon warehouses in Russia are being sold without restrictions’, while no restrictions were applied to the sale within Armenia from the local sellers.
Separately, a similar statement was released by Wildberries, with the latter noting the changes to customs clearance regulations were applied on 20 April.
‘The company is in constant dialogue with partners and relevant structures and is closely monitoring the development of the situation’, the statement read.
Wildberries further noted that as part of these activities, they held a meeting with Armenian sellers, attended by more than 50 entrepreneurs, discussing ‘emerging issues’. The company expressed hopes of ‘a phased settlement of the situation’.
