Russian sex shops face difficulties in supplies

Russian sex shops face difficulties in supplies from abroad. Logistics costs have increased along with the time to deliver sex industry products to Russia from Europe and China.

According to Maximilian Lapin, the founder of "family strengthening stores", a number of European companies said they "were asked from above not to send [goods] directly to Russia."

"Logistics has changed, and deliveries take more time,” he told Govorit Moskva radio station. There is a positive side too as the increase in logistics costs is offset by the current exchange rate, he added.

Maximilian Lapin also said that his stores stopped buying products from the United States as there was a high risk not to receive them at all.

Foreign goods will be replaced by domestic ones, the businessman said.

"We continued to focus on import substitution: our own production of dildos, sex toys, leather fetish and BDSM accessories, lubricants, massage oils. The quality of these products is not worse, if not better, than that of international brands, and the price is several times lower,” Lapin said.

The industry is experiencing difficulties against the background of the imposition of sanctions. Many Western companies refuse to cooperate with Russia. Due to fears of the shortage of products in the spring of 2022, the demand for sex industry products in Russia has increased. A week after the start of the operation in Ukraine, condoms sales in Russia increased by 17 percent compared to the same period of the year before. In addition, there was a sharp increase in demand for women's hygiene products.