The growth of book exports from Russia in the first half of the year exceeded 15%

Despite restrictions and the loss of foreign partners, Russian publishers continue to try to work in foreign markets. In the first half of the year, exports of domestic book production increased by 10-15%. In 2022, according to the Ministry of Digital Development, this market as a whole fell sharply, although a number of publishers had growth even more than now. Market participants note the demand for Russian-language literature abroad, primarily due to the wave of emigration to Armenia, Georgia, Serbia and Turkey. But continued growth in supplies will complicate a parallel increase in the volume of counterfeit goods, experts warn.

The growth of book exports in the first half of the year exceeded 15%, Eksmo CEO Evgeny Kapiev said at the industry conference “Book Market of Russia-2023”. According to him, the company sees a “serious” increase in demand for Russian-language literature abroad. The growth of the indicator by the first half of 2021 amounted to 55%. The company does not disclose the indicators for the first half of 2022, but in general, according to the results of the year, the increase in sales of paper books of the group in Russian outside the Russian Federation amounted to 27%.

At the same time, according to the Ministry of Digital Development, in general, the volume of exports of Russian publishing products in 2022 has seriously fallen. It is clarified that it fell ten times to Ukraine (in dollar terms), to the USA and Latvia – 13 times, to Moldova – 17 times, to Estonia – 20 times, to Belarus – 12 times, and to Kazakhstan – 14 times.

A source in the publishing market explains that the first half of 2022 was difficult for the industry: “Now we have just begun to adapt to a new life after the termination of contracts.” He confirms that exports have increased this year compared to last year, as “publishers have found new ways to interact with Western partners.” But another market participant doubts that in the second half of the year the dynamics will exceed last year’s, “there are no serious prerequisites for this yet.”

The President of the Eksmo-AST Group, Oleg Novikov, links the activation of exports, among other things, with the “so-called new wave of emigration to Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Serbia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.” As the Economist reported in August, citing data from the analytical project Re: Russia and Rosstat, the number of Russians who left the country after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine could be 0.5-1 million people. Among the destinations, Kazakhstan and Serbia prevail (150,000 people each), followed by Armenia (110,000).

In the countries of the former USSR, “the level of development of specialized retail is low, and against the backdrop of increased demand, the trading partners of the publishing group have an advantage,” Mr. Novikov added. It is important to develop the structure of delivering books abroad, “each country should have shops selling Russian-language books, since there are a large number of our compatriots abroad,” Mr. Kapyev emphasized. The group itself plans to open stores under the Territory franchise, pilot projects are already being implemented in Kyrgyzstan.

Rosmen told Kommersant that last year the export of books abroad provided about 5% of the company’s turnover. The publisher did not provide data for the first half of 2023, but clarified that “this year exports are slightly reduced” due to problems with counterfeit products. As in Eksmo-AST, the publishing house mainly supplies books to partners from the CIS. But Alpina confirms an increase in deliveries abroad – according to the results of January-June, they grew by 10% year-on-year, “Kazakhstan and Belarus became the most active countries for export, but our books are actively read, for example, in Israel.”

After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, most foreign publishers and authors stopped working with Russian partners, but the latter continue to be present abroad “through supply chains,” a Kommersant source on the market claims. According to him, “Kazakh, Armenian and Uzbek entrepreneurs” act as intermediaries. However, the interlocutor of Kommersant among publishers emphasizes, “some of the partners prefer to buy counterfeit books, not of such good quality, but at a cheaper price.” Mr. Novikov, in turn, notes the problem of logistics: the increase in its cost after the departure of the American express delivery service United Parcel Service (UPS) and the low frequency of shipments “negatively affect the prospects for book exports.”

Julia Yurasova