Sportmaster is asking Russian authorities to stop the flow of illegal bicycle imports from China.

Russian bicycle manufacturers are being forced to curtail production due to a sharp increase in "gray" imports from China. Stanislav Anushin, Sportmaster's Director of Government Relations, announced this at a roundtable discussion in Sofed.

According to him, there are six large bicycle manufacturing plants in Russia, which can produce up to 2,5 million units per year (last year the market volume was 3 million, and at its peak in 2014 the figure was almost 5 million bicycles).

"Domestic manufacturers held a large share of the market, not just the familiar brands like Desna and Skif, but also Forward, Stinger, Stark, and Stern. These brands are practically as good as imported ones, and they're just as good as Chinese brands in terms of price and quality. The derailleurs, bottom brackets, and frames are just as lightweight, the paint is just as durable. Consumers often don't even realize where their bike is made. It's not something to be ashamed of," Anushin asserts.

However, in recent years, the share of Russian producers in the market has fallen from 50% to 30%, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.

"A large share of imports are low-quality, cheap models from small brands... The key issue that is currently killing or destroying manufacturers and shutting down factories is the uncontrolled flow of gray imports... The Chinese have no advantages over domestic manufacturers. It's the same metal, the same technology, the same machine tools ," Anushin said.

He called on the authorities to ensure that “ the import of colossal volumes of counterfeit and low-quality products is prevented .”