Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Against the backdrop of a shortage of certain brands of household appliances, Russian retailers are expanding their assortment at the expense of manufacturers from Uzbekistan, Turkey and China.

Thus, M.Video-Eldorado agreed on deliveries with the Uzbek manufacturer Artel, which produces, for example, Samsung products. Citilink brought Chinese brand Ascoli and Turkish Grundig to the market. Experts believe that "with the right positioning" Artel can take up to 5% of the Russian market, but still estimate the chances of Chinese brands higher.

M.Video-Eldorado has concluded an exclusive contract for the supply of home appliances from Uzbek Artel to Russia, Kommersant was told at the retailer. Refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, TVs, stoves, vacuum cleaners and air conditioners, mainly from the middle price range, will be the first to go on sale during July-August. By the end of the year, it is planned to expand the range to 100 items in 16 product categories. Artel produces more than 4 million units of equipment per year at six factories in Uzbekistan for the domestic market and export to the CIS countries, the Middle East and North Africa. It acts as a regional partner of Samsung, Shivaki, Viessmann. Kommersant's source on the market specified that Artel's enterprises are mainly assembly plants from imported components.

After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, many foreign manufacturers of household appliances and electronics, including Samsung, Bosch, LG and others, stopped deliveries to Russia. In March, large household appliances in the country rose by an average of 50%, and the demand for it increased by 2.3 times, according to Price.ru. In early July, Kommersant found out that Samsung had begun to develop an indirect supply scheme, namely the export of its products manufactured in Russia to the EAEU countries, in order to then organize reverse parallel imports (see Kommersant of July 1).

Alexey Pogudalov, commercial director of Holodilnik.ru, said that, according to GFK, in the second quarter, the demand for household appliances in Russia decreased by 20%.

In his opinion, the reason is the lack of range of individual brands, rising prices and outstripping sales in March. M.Video-Eldorado assures that now the prices are largely "at the level of February or lower." According to the retailer, in the first half of the year, sales of refrigerators in the Russian Federation increased by 17%, to 57 billion rubles, washing machines - by 21%, exceeding 50 billion rubles.

Sales of air conditioners, specified in M.Video-Eldorado, doubled, reaching almost 13 billion rubles, and TVs increased by 15%, to 95 billion rubles. In pieces, the retailer admits, sales of refrigerators, washing machines, and televisions have "decreased slightly." In Citilink, in June, sales of large household appliances increased by 13% compared to May, and small household appliances - by 10%. The retailer is also considering expanding the range of household appliances through new brands. According to his representative, Chinese MBS, European Franke and Faber products will soon appear on the network, Chinese brand Ascoli and Turkish Grundig are already represented.

Demand for household appliances in Russia decreased by 20 percent in monetary terms in the second quarter, according to GFK.

Artel is developing OEM production (custom production for other brands), Alexey Pogudalov notes. In his opinion, the price positioning and cost of Artel equipment do not yet allow “substantial competition with other brands” in the categories of washing machines and TVs: “Of course, this is not a substitute for Bosch, Electrolux, Samsung, LG, Gorenje, Miele and other luxury brands, primarily because of their perception."

But in the category of refrigeration equipment and stoves, the Uzbek manufacturer may well push out competitors, Aleksey Pogudalov believes. According to him, Artel can take from 3% to 5% of the household appliances market in the Russian Federation within two years "with the right strategy." On the Yandex.Market website, a mini-oven, for example, from Artel, on average, costs from 4 thousand rubles up to 7.5 thousand rubles. depending on the device model. TVs start from 8 thousand rubles, and refrigerators - from 14 thousand rubles.

Dmitry Levin, director of the large household appliances department at Marvel Distribution, believes that there are more chances to take part of the Russian market from manufacturers from China. Among them, he names Viomi, ChiQ and TCL. According to him, by the end of the year, equipment from these brands will appear in Russian stores.