November 19th, 2024 A round table on the theme "Sustainable development of the industry through wool processing" was held in the Tauride Palace within the framework of the Commonwealth of Fashion Forum. The event was organized by Soyuzlegprom and brought together leading experts, representatives of the textile and light industry and government authorities to discuss key issues and develop recommendations on optimizing sheep wool processing in Russia.

Moderator of the round table Andrey Valentinovich Razbrodin, President of the Russian Union of Textile and Light Industry Entrepreneurs, opened the discussion and noted that wool consumption on the world market is growing and active actions are needed within the country, including the development of domestic standards in order to be competitive and limit the impact of imported products. 

"If we strive to increase sales of high-quality wool, we should develop and adopt our own domestic standards, as well as coordinate them with international ISO standards. SOYUZLEGPROM with the participation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, it is able to implement this project," explained Andrey Razbrodin.

In turn, Ksenia Bobyleva, Deputy Director of the Department of Light Industry and Timber Industry, noted regional successes in the development of the sub-sector.

"We are seeing an increase in investment activity in the wool sub-sector. This is confirmed by the number of projects being implemented. For example, in the Republic of Dagestan , work is underway to create a wool cluster. In the Trans-Baikal Territory, a project is being implemented to spin a thread from sheep down using pneumomechanical technology. Spinning industries are developing in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic for the needs of the local knitting cluster," –reported Ksenia Bobyleva.

Miroslava Skrynnikova, Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Breeding The Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, spoke about cooperation with other departments within the framework of the implementation of the roadmap for the development of the wool market.

"Ministry of Agriculture Russia is aware of the importance of consolidated actions to achieve success. Therefore, we have been working with the Federation Council and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia since January 2024 We have been actively implementing the roadmap for the development of the wool market for over a year. We are at the very beginning of the project implementation – at the stage of production and processing of domestic wool in the first pilot regions of the country. The key issue is not only the volume of production, but also the quality of our products, which directly affects the next stages of processing and sale of finished goods, " she commented Miroslava Skrynnikova.

Light industry enterprises took an active part in the development of the roadmap, for example, Svetlana Tsirkunkova, founder of the Mekh ORETEX company.

"We actively participated in the development of the roadmap activities. They proposed to create a special quality mark for wool, which will help to highlight the products of a domestic manufacturer. This mark will be valid under certain conditions and in accordance with established quality standards, which will allow us to position our products more effectively on the market made from domestic wool," noted Svetlana Tsirkunkova.

Artem Potapenko, CEO of Lidertex Group of Companies, made a speech at the round table, where he stated that this year they had successfully launched a full production cycle.

"We take wool, recycle it and add secondary raw materials, depending on what kind of product we want to get. Then the thread is processed on our machines into the final product", – said Artem Potapenko.

At the end of the round table, the participants unanimously agreed that it is necessary to continue cooperation and maintain a constant dialogue between industry members in order to achieve a common goal – the creation of an effective and sustainable sheep wool processing system in Russia.

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