Russia's largest combined bookstore chain, Chitai-Gorod–Bukvoed, has spent approximately 100 million rubles removing books from sale, transporting them, writing them off and destroying copies in response to new legal restrictions. The company's chief executive, Alexander Brychkin, gave the figure in an interview with RBC published on October 28.
Costs arise even when books were legally published and stocked at the time of release. After objections are raised about their content, retailers must remove copies from shelves. Not every title can be returned to the supplier; some books must be sent to warehouses, written off and destroyed at the retailer's expense.
Brychkin said certain books are destroyed using an industrial shredder, with the process recorded on video. He criticized what he considers an opaque system of expert assessments and the lack of advance notice to sellers. As a result, he said, substantial costs and legal risks can arise after a book has spent years in ordinary circulation.
A separate expense comes from labeling requirements for literature that mentions drugs. According to Brychkin, the chain has labeled approximately two million copies itself. Packaging and warning labels have cost additional tens of millions of rubles, a figure separate from the estimated 100 million rubles spent removing and destroying books.
The remarks come as Russia expands regulation of the book trade. Publishers and retailers must consider not only new manuscripts but also changing requirements for previously printed editions. Brychkin called for a more transparent review process and a system that would alert sellers to legal objections concerning individual books.