Putin’s grinding invasion of Ukraine as it needs Russian weapons – one of its biggest sources of arms. India, along with China, has already been snapping up cheap Russian crude that’s then processed by domestic refiners including Reliance Industries, taking advantage of discounted barrels as global prices soar.
For Indian companies, the chance to grab a bigger slice of the Russian market is alluring despite the risk of a global backlash after corporate giants like Apple, Ikea and Fast Retailing shuttered stores or paused sales in Russia. “The company has a basket of 40 products and a large front-end presence” of more than 800 employees in Russia, Mukherjee wrote. “A silver lining of the current geopolitical conflict is the opportunity to gain market share in Russia.”
X5 Group, Russia’s biggest food retailer, also plans to increase the supply of Indian goods, such as drinks, canned food, kitchenware, seafood and rice, according to Artem Pereslavtsev, managing director of X5 Import. Company executives visited India in April and held meetings with Indian suppliers the following month, Pereslavtsev said.