Concern in the pet sector

The international pet supplies sector is following the conflict in Ukraine with great sympathy for the fate of the Ukrainian people as well as concern for the economic consequences of the Russian invasion.
Representatives of industrial companies who spoke to PET worldwide have said that since the Russian invasion was launched, the supply of pet products to Ukraine has largely ground to a halt. One of the reasons for this is that due to the conflict, hardly any shipping companies are available to transport goods to their customers. All the industrial firms to which PET worldwide has spoken indicated that they are in close contact with their distributors in a bid to seek options together for getting deliveries back up and running, so as to ensure that pets in Ukraine continue to be supplied with food and accessories, even under conditions of war.
Delivering products to Belarus and Russia has also become significantly more difficult, it is reported. All EU states bordering Russia have banned Russian and Belarusian flights from their airspace and transporting goods to their destination by road is extremely difficult. Problems with Russian customs have further exacerbated this situation.
The exclusion of some major financial institutions from the banking communications network Swift is likely to create additional problems for transporting goods to Russia. Moreover, pet supplies companies expect further increases in the already high price of raw materials in the medium term due to Europe's substantial dependence on Russian gas. If supplies of raw materials from Russia should fail, players in the sector fear energy shortages in some European countries.