The American company Johnson & Johnson will stop supplying contact lenses to Russia, as it has warned its Russian partners. At the same time, as representatives of the distributor company told Interfax, no such warnings have been received regarding other J&J products.
They believe that there is no need to fear a shortage of contact lenses, as none of the foreign suppliers have left the Russian market.
"Even if Johnson & Johnson stops supplying contact lenses for some reason, there are other companies that supply them," the distributor said.
The press service of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade issued a statement saying that in case of termination of supplies of contact lenses, the Ministry will promptly consider their inclusion in the list of goods for parallel import.
However, store owners interviewed by Kommersant FM believe, on the contrary, that Russians are facing a shortage of contact lenses or, at the very least, a significant increase in prices. According to one of the radio station's interlocutors, J&J lenses occupied 40-50% of the Russian market.
On May 19, the U.S. Department of Commerce expanded the list of goods prohibited from being shipped to Russia to include contact lenses and sunglasses.