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Analysts have recorded a decline in the number of foreign brands entering the Russian market, the Russian business daily Kommersant reports, citing data from consulting firms.

According to CORE.XP, six foreign brands entered the Russian market between January and September 2026, almost half as many as in the same period of 2025. NF Group cites similar figures: in its count, five foreign brands began operating in the country over the first nine months of this year, against 11 a year earlier.

Of the foreign brands that entered the Russian market in 2022-26, those from Turkey (24.7 %), China (18.8 %), Italy (17.6 %) and Belarus (8.2 %) lead the way, according to CORE.XP data reported by TASS.

At the start of the year, however, expectations were more optimistic: Nikoliers had forecast that 20 new foreign brands would appear in Russia over the whole of 2026, 33 % more than a year earlier.

Experts attribute the slowdown in foreign companies' efforts to enter the Russian market to rising costs. In current conditions, launching a brand is more expensive and projects take longer to pay back: foreign companies must account not only for the cost of opening an outlet in Russia but also for inventory, complicated logistics and promotion, says Zulfiya Shilyaeva, head of the retail real estate department at Commonwealth Partnership (CMWP). Difficulties also arise with making payments, while the tax burden and "pressure on the Russian partners through which foreign companies enter the market" are growing, CORE.XP says. NF Group names sanctions risks as an additional constraint.

On the whole, CORE.XP concludes, the period of active replacement of the large international companies that left in 2022-23 has passed, and decisions on market entry are now taken more slowly because of economic uncertainty.

In 2027 experts expect a moderate recovery in the number of openings by foreign companies, with activity concentrated in individual segments. In Shilyaeva's view, brands from Turkey, China, the CIS and the Middle East retain the potential to enter the Russian market.

Russian brands have also cut back their launches: only one domestic brand has appeared since the start of this year, whereas by October last year there were seven new ones, says Ekaterina Nogai, head of the research and analytics department at IBC Real Estate. She attributes the overall slowdown in new brand launches partly to low visitor numbers in shopping centres and subdued consumer activity.