According to Mr. Shelisch, the State Duma held hearings in November of last year resulting in a plan to devise a national program to protect the market from counterfeit goods.
"The program will be nation-wide and will not need nods from various governmental bodies, since it is going to be a state-sponsored program. Governmental bodies will execute their individual items," Mr. Shelisch said, adding that the program was to be approved in a few days.
He told the conference that the program philosophy would be the pooling of efforts by the market players interested in imposing measures against widespread fake goods.
"Now, such measures in Russia are ineffective, and police are in on the protection racket," Mr. Shelisch commented.
Under the program, an agreement of voluntary association of legal product sellers is to be devised.
"They should stop selling counterfeit goods, suffering a more stringent penalty if caught red-handed," Mr. Shelisch said.
He also stressed that footwear manufacturers have issued the bulk of complaints.
"Only 15% of footwear on the Russian market is real. The owners of popular brand names suffer the greatest losses," Mr. Shelisch said.
