ANCONA The Kremlin’s interventionism in the war economy, which led President Putin to annex the Russian subsidiaries of the Ariston group from Fabriano and the German Bosch, increases the tension and instability of a market that has always been important for the economy Marche. Before the attack on Ukraine on 24 February 2022, on the Marche-Russia route there were one million pairs of shoes and exports of around 305 million euros a year (350 before Covid) with the footwear sector of the Fermo-Maceratese district in the front row (about 30% of the total).
Rebound after conflict
Now, 26 months after the start of the war unleashed by Putin, the value of Marche products exported to Russia is at 257.5 million, a provisional estimate for 2023, up 4.2% compared to the previous year. The biggest leap was made by the footwear sector, which rose in the last year from 73.3 million to 94.5 (+29%), an increase also due to the minimum level reached in 2022, the year in which the start of the conflict reduced the flow of goods to Moscow. However, a value 14.5% lower than the pre-Covid 2019 one and even 68% lower than the 2013 record. The greatest concerns are concentrated precisely in the footwear sector due to the abrupt worsening of diplomatic and commercial relations between Italy and Moscow, sanctioned by the yesterday from the formal notice of the Russian ambassador, who was asked by the Farnesina to withdraw the Kremlin’s measure temporarily transferring the Russian Ariston to Gazprom, and from the very sharp reply from the Russian Federation, which speaks of a reaction to hostile acts by Italy , for the support (unmentioned but implied) for Ukraine.
The peak of 2014
An international framework that raises fears of further sanctions and retaliation. Of course, for about ten years the turnover of Marche companies directed towards Greater Russia is no longer what it once was, when before 2014 (when the sanctions linked to the annexation of Crimea were triggered) it had reached a peak of around 725 million euros a year, with the footwear sector at 294.8 million. With export channels already choked by those restrictions against Moscow, companies from the Marche region have repositioned themselves, looking for new outlets in other countries to make up for the drop in orders. But Russia still remained the eighth export market in the Marche region (just under 3% of the total) with a trend that had started to rise again in the months preceding the outbreak of the war after 2020 (274 million total exports of Marche) marked by a decline of 21.6% due to the pandemic.
Already in 2021, exports from the Marche region had risen to 305.8, then in 2022 a new collapse (247 million) due to the tightening of sanctions (including the one that prohibits the sale of luxury goods with a unit value exceeding 300 euros to Russia ) and in the last year the signs of a new recovery, which now risks dealing with Putin’s hardening towards European Union companies. Valentino Fenni, president of the footwear manufacturers in Confindustria Fermo and vice-president of Assocalzaturifici, defines the orders from Russia and Ukraine as stable, “still important markets for the Marche footwear district”.
Under 300 euros
Out of 100 euros of Italian footwear exported to Russia, a third comes from the Marche, the first region in terms of exported value. «The sanctions have hurt us more than the Russian government. But the quality and personal relationships built over the years prevail. Certainly every tension, even if we find ourselves on the right side, then impacts the economy – observes Fenni, referring to the tensions of the last few days -. There are sanctions that have been in force for 10 years, others arrived after the outbreak of the war and others will arrive. They certainly don’t help us have the necessary peace of mind.” Footwear under 300 euros per pair are not included in the sanctions, which however hinder the flow of money from Moscow to Fermo and Macerata. The price of the ruble (1 euro per 100 rubles) is indicated as the greatest negative factor as it makes Marche footwear very expensive for Russians. «We are victims of incessant defamatory communication towards Italian products», observes Marino Fabiani, owner of the shoe factory of the same name in Fermo, which has Russia as its main market. «The only hope is that the war will end – confides Fabiani -. Because there would be good prospects. There is a hunger for redemption and we could think of a rebirth. If, however, we were to continue like this, I don’t know how long we will be able to resist on that market.”
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