The General Annual Meeting of Soyuzlegprom
On May 29, the annual General Meeting of members was held at the RSPPRussian Union of Textile and Light Industry Entrepreneurs (Soyuzlegprom). The Meeting approved the priority areas of the Union's activities for 2018/19, as well as the annual financial balance of Soyuzlegprom for 2017. The participants of the meeting examined in detail the main trends of an industry, intersectoral and general economic nature that directly affect the dynamics of the industry. President of the Union was unanimously re-elected Andrey Razbrodin.
Dmitry Kurochkin, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, member of the Board of Soyuzlegprom, in his speech noted the close cooperation of the Union with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as with the RSPP, "Business Russia",the Industrial Development Fund and;by other associations. This makes it possible to speed up decision-making at the federal and regional levels aimed at improving the competitiveness of the light industry and other processing industries.
Viktor Cherepov, Executive Vice President of the RSPP, drew attention to the planned strengthening of the fiscal burden on the economy: it is planned to increase VAT to 20% (from the current 18%) and cancel preferential VAT (10%) on goods for children. He and many other participants of the meeting called on the industry and expert communities to collectively contact the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation and other departments to prevent the adoption of these decisions, because they will reduce the profitability of processing industries and already low effective demand. The beneficial role of special investment contracts sanctioned by the Government of the Russian Federation in order to attract industrial investments was noted. This trend is intensifying due to various benefits for investors under such contracts.
The head of the profile department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Irina Ivanova focused on the preservation of state support measures for the light industry for 2018/19, including in the field of import substitution.She also stated about the growing influence of general economic factors both on the situation in the light industry and on the state industrial policy in general.
Head of Soyuzlegprom Andrey Razbrodin stressed that the production indicators of the industry have maintained positive dynamics since 2017, the quality of products is improving, which is largely due to the increasingly active interaction of Soyuzlegprom and Roskachestvo. However, sales volumes in the light industry sub-sectors are stagnating or even falling. This is due to effective demand and the volume of cheap counterfeit and its analogues on the market. The head of Soyuzlegprom also drew attention to the significant increase in the share of Russian state order performers in recent years from 30 to 80%, and also to the active development of the raw material base of the light industry in natural components.
Meanwhile, personnel problems and the still low salary attractiveness of the textile industry remain increasingly acute for the industry. This was emphasized in their speeches Tatiana Fedorova, member of the Board of the Union of Light Industry Entrepreneurs of Tatarstan, and head of the Russian Trade Union of Industrial Workers Andrey Chekmenev.
Representatives of the Federal Customs Union spoke about the measures taken to speed up customs procedures and more widely inform manufacturers and other participants in foreign economic activity about these measures.
Svetlana Belyaeva, head of the Russian Union of Clothing Manufacturers, noted the continuing decline in sales and the orientation of most consumers to the cheap segment of clothing and accessories. This trend contributes to the growth of demand for counterfeit goods. Alexandra Andrunakievich, head of the Union of shoemakers and leather workers of the Russian Federation, in her speech confirmed the existence of this problem in the leather and shoe sector.
Source: Soyuzlegprom
