In March of this year, many Western companies decided to stop sending merchandise or providing services in Russia with the aim of protesting against the war in Ukraine, among them was GAP.
However, the clothing brand reportedly continued to ship items into July, reports Reuters.
“Russian customs records reviewed by Reuters show that between March 11 and July 16, the GAP franchisee in Moscow received 1,585 shipments of clothing with a declared value of $5.2 million.
A spokesman for the brand said that they did stop shipments to Russia and had not resumed them. However, when Reuters showed customs records to GAP with shipments after March 10, the company admitted that they continued to provide them until April.
Why?
The clothing brand explained that orders are placed months in advance and it was the final order from its franchise partners in Russia.
“Gap has not shipped or sold any merchandise to our Russian franchise partner since their final order was processed,” a spokesperson said.
The company did not explain when the orders were made. Also, when asked why it had continued until July, a manager of the Russian operator of GAP commented that shipments were delayed due to longer transit times through Turkey.
But, the records reviewed by the news agency, the records do not mention Turkey as a transit point and they no longer answered questions regarding that difference.
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