Lush stores in Russia are expected to run out of stock soon, following the company's move to halt deliveries, CEO says

• Lush stores in Russia will soon run out of stock according to its CEO, The Wall Street Journal reported.
• The CEO told The Journal that Russian stores had three months' worth of supplies.

Lush stores in Russia will soon run out of stock in Russia, according to its CEO.

The Wall Street Journal reported the news.

Mark Constantine, the company's CEO, told the outlet that Russian stores had enough supply for three months but would struggle to keep the retailer's Russian business operational when stock runs out.

Lush said it had halted online sales and shipments of supplies to stores in Russia earlier this month but stores would still remain open. The cosmetics company operates 48 stores in Russia, which are majority-owned by a Russian licensee, Dmitry Azarov.

"We couldn't just insist he shut the shops because that wasn't written into the [license agreement]," Constantine said, per The Journal.

Constantine also told the publication that the local franchisee was looking to reduce the number of Lush stores to make supplies last longer. If the retailer secured different products from a new manufacturer to sell in the stores, Lush could respond with legal action the CEO said, per The Journal.

The CEO said that the licensee, who has worked with Lush for around 20 years, is "looking for an alternative to us," but insisted that "no one's going to buy it," according to The Journal.

"The stake will just fall away and [Mr. Azarov] will change the name and sell something different," he told the outlet.

Lush's Russian branch did not respond to Insider's request for comment in relation to its partnership with Lush.

A number of companies have suspended operations in Russia in the weeks after the attack on Ukraine — including H&M, IKEA, and Adidas. Other firms have struggled to close stores due to complex legal agreements with local franchisees.

Burger King's parent company, Restaurant Brands International, recently said it wanted to close Russian stores, but couldn't due to a "complicated legal process" with the franchisee in Russia.

The owner of the company that controls the franchise agreements for the 190 Papa John's locations in Russia recently told The New York Times that he didn't want to close the stores.