Join stores - Newspaper Kommersant No. 180 (7381) dated 09/29/2022

Join stores - Newspaper Kommersant No. 180 (7381) dated 09/29/2022



After the partial mobilization in Russia announced on September 21, the traffic of stores selling military clothing and equipment increased by 40% in some cases. With lists of necessary drugs and medical devices, mobilized people also come to pharmacies, where they talk about difficulties in providing work due to the mobilization of some employees.

Over the past week, the flow of visitors to the Moscow Gard military goods store, as Kommersant was told there, has grown by 35-40%. A spokesman for one of the military stores in Voronezh says that due to the influx of visitors, sellers do not always have time to take a break. As Kommersant discovered, on the websites of several specialized stores with military clothing and equipment, notifications appeared about the possible absence of a number of goods, delays in the processing and delivery of orders.

The excitement began on September 21 after the announcement in Russia of partial mobilization as part of a special operation in Ukraine. In some regions, such as in Buryatia, the high demand for uniforms led to higher prices, so the regional authorities had to intervene. Later, the Federal Antimonopoly Service warned retailers against overpricing.

Customers mainly purchase winter shoes, sleeping bags, hats, masks, tactical gloves, waterproof and fleece clothing, a representative of a specialized store in Voronezh notes. A slight increase in demand for shoes and camouflage suits is recorded in Garda. “We have no right to specify the purpose of the purchase, but at the beginning of autumn, among other things, uniforms are always purchased by students of the military department, students of the combined arms academy and the military university,” they explained.

A representative of one of the networks of clothing stores in the Primorsky Territory draws attention to the problem with the availability of high-quality body armor, helmets and first aid kits. Previously, merchants did not need to buy such goods in large volumes, he adds.

Pharmacy chains also managed to feel the consequences of partial mobilization. Two sources of Kommersant in the pharmaceutical market say that buyers come with lists of medicines and medical devices issued, according to them, in the military registration and enlistment offices. "Kommersant" got acquainted with one of these lists.

In addition to standard antiviral, painkillers, diarrhea drugs, bandages, they include, for example, hemostatics, tourniquets, hemostatic agents, occlusive dressings, collagen sponges, etc.

Tourniquets and dressings ended most quickly in the first days of partial mobilization, although there is no shortage of these positions yet, Kommersant's interlocutor notes. “But the territorial bodies of Roszdravnadzor already require weekly reports from pharmaceutical retailers on the availability of medical devices,” he explains.

The increased demand for antibiotics, antipyretics and painkillers may be associated in general with the autumn season of colds or COVID-19, Sergey Shulyak, CEO of DSM Group, draws attention. At the same time, according to him, before that, due to the lack of demand, for example, for tourniquets or special kits for dressing and treating wounds, pharmacies practically did not keep them on sale. Suppliers may also not have time to cover the increased demand in a short time, the expert does not exclude. A Kommersant source in the pharmaceutical market warns of problems with logistics due to the call of some controllers, forwarders, drivers, assemblers: “It is not yet clear how and by whom to close the empty jobs.”

Suppliers today cannot guide retailers on the timing of new deliveries against the backdrop of a sharp increase in demand, confirms a representative of a military goods store in Voronezh. Mikhail Burmistrov, General Director of Infoline-Analytics, notes that the demand for overalls and equipment is provided not only by the state order from the Ministry of Defense and those mobilized, but also by volunteers who provide humanitarian assistance. At the same time, there are quite a lot of manufacturers in the workwear segment in Russia, so he believes that the shortage of military equipment in the country can be quickly eliminated.

Alina Savitskaya



Source link