How Bosnian Discount Stores Are Helping Putin’s War

Around 60 euros was enough for Detektor journalists to fill a cart at the “MERE” discount supermarket in Doboj, one of eight such stores in BiH.

In the store, which resembles a warehouse, items are indiscriminately arranged, sometimes stacked on cardboard boxes set up in rows. Food, hygiene, and work products are lined up next to each other. On sale are items from Russia, which is a rarity in BiH.

Customers told journalists they had come to “MERE” because of the lower prices although they were not sure about the quality of the products.

A staff member told a journalist posing as a customer that card payment was possible, but only with cards from local banks. She also explained that products coming from Poland have recently appeared on the market’s shelves, while other European items have been there for a long time.

However, the chain’s owners, and the company through which they manage the Russian stores, were placed under sanctions by Poland in April 2025. A little over a year later, the chain, along with its owners, ended up on the EU sanctions list.

EU investigators established that the company provided material and financial contributions that threatened the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine, and that revenue generated on the EU market was used to transfer capital to Russia, thereby indirectly funding the Russian budget.

It was also noted that the company attempted to bypass individual national bans and sanctions by changing brand names and transferring ownership structures to subsidiary companies.

Despite a ban on EU companies doing business with the chain, Detektor has found products from EU countries are being sold on the store’s shelves across BiH.

Robert Socha, an expert from the Open Intelligence Group organisation in Poland, which deals with sanctions compliance verification, said that although BiH is not an EU member and is not directly bound by EU sanctions regulations, the sale of European products in “MERE” supermarkets raises the question of possible sanction circumvention.

Socha noted that European manufacturers are obligated to know who is selling their products, in case they are being sold by sanctioned companies.

”If a European exporter lacks an adequate customer verification system to prevent the diversion of goods toward sanctioned entities, such a failure may constitute a violation of European sanctions,” he told Detektor.

In July the European Union imposed sanctions against Sergey Schneider, co-founder and co-owner of the Svetofor group, which operates through more than 2,200 discount stores in Russia and abroad, including the brands Svetofor, “MERE”, and MyPrice. The EU also sanctioned Sergey’s brother Andrey Schneider and his mother Valentina Schneider.

The Schneider family, from the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, has a reputation in Russia for being reclusive. They are billionaires who have been expanding their business into several European, Asian, and recently South American countries.

The business was started in 2009 by Sergey and Andrey Schneider, together with their parents Valentina and Ivan. Its business model, recognisable in the store in Doboj, involved locating stores in cheap facilities on the periphery of cities and selling goods directly from boxes and pallets. The number of employees is minimal, and investments in advertising and decoration are virtually non-existent.

Suppliers must offer prices significantly below market rates and often bear delivery costs and the risk of unsold goods themselves. Such a model enables prices ranging from 20 to 30 percent lower than those in standard supermarkets.

The business is overseen by Sergey, who is considered the main strategist and largest co-owner of the system. His younger brother Andrey Schneider is a co-owner.

Their names are registered in “MERE”s ownership structure in BiH, as well as companies in Serbia. Combined, Detektor established, they have capital of just over 500,000 euros.

Sanctions have already had direct consequences for “MERE” in some EU member countries, especially the Baltic states. But this did not stop operations in the Balkans.

In 2021, Sergey, Andrey and two Russian associates, Evgenii Pshenitsyn and Valeriy Iakovlev, established “MERE” through a company called Eksperttorg, headquartered in Sarajevo.

Over the past four years, the chain has operated exclusively in the territory of the Republika Srpska entity, where the authorities maintain close relations with Moscow.

In 2021, the company in Sarajevo was registered on Schneider’s behalf by an intermediary firm owned by Kemal Muratović, who acted as an intermediary for setting up dozens of companies for Russian citizens in BiH while offering them citizenship—a topic Detektor previously covered.

Although the firm in Sarajevo remains active, official data shows that since 2025, Eksperttorg has been re-registered in Istočno Sarajevo, with capital of 682,000 marks. The owner of this company is the Belgrade firm SKTrade, which is owned by the Schneider brothers, Pshenitsyn, and Iakovlev. SKTrade’s registered capital amounts to around 333,000 marks and its director is Boklach Evgenii, about whom little can be found on the internet.

“MERE”s BiH arm operates in Zvornik, Banja Luka, Istočno Sarajevo, Bijeljina, Doboj, Prijedor, Laktaši, and Trebinje.BiH has mostly aligned its rules with EU positions and decisions, including restrictive measures against Russia and individuals and companies linked to the war in Ukraine.

However, unlike EU members, its sanctions are not applied automatically in BiH. Their implementation requires domestic, institutional and legal steps, which are largely blocked by the authorities in Republika Srpska. Because of this, according to current regulations, “MERE”s business operations in BiH are legal.

Detektor asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about why BiH is enabling the operations of a sanctioned company, but it has not yet responded.

Tanja Topić, an analyst from Banja Luka and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, compared the actions of BiH institutions in alignment with EU sanctions to an “out-of-tune orchestra.”

She said the country’s stance on sanctions depends on the political colours of whoever is in charge of an institution or ministry. This means that if they are sympathetic to Russia, they could ignore EU sanctions.

Topić said that while many BiH politicians are supportive of aligning with EU sanctions, some state ministries are led by Republika Srpska politicians, who are against this.

”We actually have a stance that stems from who is at the head of those institutions, or rather who the minister is, because they might turn a blind eye [to sanctions] for political friends.”

The Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH (UIO) refused to provide Detektor with data on the operations of Eksperttorg, or information on which countries its goods enter BiH from, their value, quantity and who distributes them.

During purchases at “MERE” in Doboj in August 2026, Detektor journalists noticed at least 15 products originating from EU countries Italy, Croatia, Poland, and Estonia. There were also products originating from China, Turkey, Russia, Moldova, and Serbia, as well as those manufactured in BiH. As Detektor verified, some of the raw materials used in the products originated from the United States of America, Canada, and China.

Socha said the EU member states where the products originate have the primary responsibility to investigate how their goods have ended up in the sales chain. He said authorities should check European manufacturers and exporters to determine whether they are aware of the risk of goods being diverted and whether they knowingly accept this.

”Competent authorities of EU member states can investigate domestic manufacturers whose goods are sold at ‘MERE’ and check whether they ignored the obvious risk of products ending up in a chain linked to sanctioned entities,” Socha told Detektor.

Detektor sent inquiries regarding the sale of EU products in the sanctioned Russian market in BiH to every manufacturer and the country in which it is located.

Journalists asked companies that worked with “MERE” to distribute EU products regarding whether they were aware of the sanctions linked to the company. Most of those Detektor managed to contact were unaware “MERE” had been sanctioned, and of the potential risks of such business cooperation.

They said they delivered goods based on standard commercial contracts, with some admitting they now do not know what steps should be taken, whom to contact, or whether they are allowed to continue deliveries. Some respondents said they would seek legal opinion, while others said they would wait for instructions from experts.

Detektor contacted the Schneider brothers via Telegram, but they did not respond to the messages. Detektor journalists also visited the company's headquarters in Istočno Sarajevo, where an employee from a nearby company said that the journalists were not the first in the last ten days to look for Eksperttorg. They suggested we should try looking “on the other side of the building.”

At that location, journalists found a small red and yellow door with the “MERE” logo written on it.

A “MERE” employee, who did not wish to be filmed, explained that he could not speak officially. He said that he had never met the actual owners and that they were currently in Russia.

The Detektor team also left written questions requesting that they be forwarded to the company’s BiH director, but no responses arrived prior to publication.

Journalists also tried to contact Evgenii Boklach, who is registered as the director of Eksperttorg in Istočno Sarajevo. Attorney Samra Hadžović from Sarajevo, whose name is mentioned in the court files of that company, said she could not discuss the topic and that journalists would have to find another way to reach Boklach.

Detektor also contacted the authorities of European countries where the Schneider brothers operate and whose products are on the shelves of “MERE” stores in BiH.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, where the group operated, told Detektor: “France fully implements EU sanctions, which were unanimously adopted by all 27 member states of the Council.”

Latvian authorities confirmed to Detektor that companies linked to the “MERE” retail network had to suspend regular operations in Latvia, due to the EU’s sanctions against Sergey Schneider. Their funds and economic resources were blocked, while only activities necessary to maintain minimal operations were permitted, with the approval of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Latvia, which keeps records of frozen assets.

”Supplying sanctioned companies, including through intermediaries, is not permitted when it would mean directly or indirectly placing funds or economic resources at the disposal of those companies,” said FIU Latvia. It said it could not disclose data on specific firms that previously supplied ‘MERE’.

Attempts by “MERE” to expand into other European countries have been met with varying results.

The British company TS Markt Ltd is listed as active, but is not operating. Andrey Schneider resigned from his position as director in that company in 2020. The current director is a Ukrainian citizen who states on her LinkedIn profile that she is also employed at “MERE”.

In April 2025, Poland froze the financial funds and economic resources of the Schneider brothers' company Torgservis PL. Romanian company Torgservice RM is formally active, but currently has no business operations.

Companies in the Czech Republic and France are also inactive, while the German companies TS Markt, TS-Markt 101, and TS-Markt 102 are currently active. “MERE” was closed in Greece following the introduction of EU sanctions.

Outside the EU, business is more stable. Svetofor is active in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. The group is also active in Serbia, where it operates through a network of local companies. The Belgrade firm SKTrade, which is part of the Schneider group and owner of the firm in BiH, is simultaneously linked through ownership to Hungarian company Huntorg Service Kft, as revealed by the Hungarian investigative media outlet Atlatszo.

Detektor asked the European Commission’s press office how non-EU countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, should handle cooperation with the Russian sanctioned market, but no response arrived prior to publication.