The LEGO Group says it’s ‘concerned’ about resellers importing LEGO sets into Russia without the company’s consent, but is ‘taking measures to prevent this from happening’.
Czech publication Page Not Found reported earlier this week that LEGO sets are still being sold in Russia, despite the LEGO Group placing an indefinite pause on commercial operations in the country following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Products are apparently coming into Russia via private intermediary companies and being sold at stores such as ‘World of Cubes’, a chain run by IRG that imitates official LEGO Stores.
“We are concerned about this flow of goods considering we stopped shipping LEGO products into Russia in March 2022,” a spokesperson for the LEGO Group tells Brick Fanatics. “This is an issue we take seriously and are acting upon.”
LEGO products have been finding their way into Russia since the country legalised imports without the consent of their copyright owner in 2022. Reuters identified one source of LEGO sets – a company run by Dutchman Wijnand Herinckx, who now resides in Moscow – in 2024, which the LEGO Group is apparently aware of, having written to the Russian business ‘accusing it of falsely claiming on its website that it collaborated with LEGO’.
One means by which the LEGO Group is attempting to clamp down on resellers moving products into Russia is by contractually forbidding them from importing sets into certain countries. However, Herinckx told Reuters that he navigates that condition by purchasing LEGO sets using an unrelated company based in Europe, then buys and sells them through a chain of intermediaries before they cross the border into Russia.
“Since 2022, we have increased visibility and control over any potential resale activity, including adding a clause to customer contracts which forbids supplying to countries where there are sanctions or trade restrictions in place, including to Russia,” the LEGO Group’s spokesperson says. “We also carry out due diligence on new customers to ensure they have no ties to sanctioned countries.
“We monitor our sales activity, and if a potential diversion to a sanctioned country is identified, engage with retailers and take measures to prevent this from happening.”
According to customs records acquired by Page Not Found, LEGO sets were still making their way into Russia as recently as February 2025, almost three years after the LEGO Group ceased importing products into the country.
Here's the LEGO Group's statement in full...
“We are concerned about this flow of goods considering we stopped shipping LEGO products into Russia in March 2022. This is an issue we take seriously and are acting upon. Since 2022, we have increased visibility and control over any potential resale activity, including adding a clause to customer contracts which forbids supplying to countries where there are sanctions or trade restrictions in place, including to Russia.
We also carry out due diligence on new customers to ensure they have no ties to sanctioned countries. We monitor our sales activity, and if a potential diversion to a sanctioned country is identified, engage with retailers and take measures to prevent this from happening.”
The LEGO Group
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