On November 19, 2024, a round table on the topic "Sustainable development of the industry through wool processing" was held in St. Petersburg at the Tauride Palace. This event was organized by the Union of Textile and Light Industry Entrepreneurs (SOYUZLEGPROM) and was held within the framework of the III International Forum "Commonwealth of Fashion". It brought together leading experts, representatives of the textile and light industries, as well as government agencies.
The round table became a platform for exchanging views and developing joint proposals aimed at solving pressing problems in the field of wool processing, as well as developing new technologies and methods that contribute to increasing the volume of processing and creating added value. Among the topics discussed was also the issue of state support and the introduction of innovative technologies in the processes of wool processing.
The moderator of the round table, Andrei Razbrodin, President of SOYUZLEGPROM, opened the discussion and noted that wool consumption on the world market is growing and active actions are needed inside Russia, including the development of domestic standards to be competitive and limit the impact of imported products.
"If we strive to increase sales of high-quality wool, then 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, can implement this project," explained Andrey Razbrodin.
In turn, Ksenia Bobyleva, Deputy Director of the Department of Light Industry and Timber Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, noted regional successes in the development of the sub-sector. According to her, there is an increase in investment activity in the wool sub-sector. This is evidenced by the number of ongoing projects. For example, in Dagestan, work is underway to create a wool cluster, and in the Trans-Baikal Territory, a project is being implemented to spin a thread from sheep's down using pneumomechanical technology, spinning industries are developing in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic for the needs of a local knitting cluster.
Light industry enterprises took an active part in the development of the "Roadmap for the development of deep processing of sheep wool". That's what Svetlana Tsirkunkova, the founder of the “Mekh ORETEX” company, told.
"We actively participated in the development of the roadmap activities. Where they proposed to create a special quality mark for wool that will help highlight the products of a domestic manufacturer. This mark will operate 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," Svetlana Tsirkunkova noted.
Miroslava Skrynnikova, Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, spoke about cooperation with other departments within the framework of the implementation of the roadmap for the development of the wool market.
According to her, the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia is aware of the importance of consolidated actions to achieve success. In this regard, the agency, together with the Federation Council and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, has been actively implementing a roadmap for the development of the wool market since January 2024.
"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," Miroslava Skrynnikova stressed.
Artem Potapenko, CEO of “Lidertex” Group of Companies, “Zelenaya Nit” Eco-Cluster, also spoke at the round table. He stated that this year they have successfully launched a full production cycle.
"We take wool, process 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," Artyom Potapenko said.
Also participating in the round table were: Nadezhda Ilyina, member of the Federation Council Committee on Federal Structure, Regional Policy, Local Government and Northern Affairs, Dmitry Bolshakov, Deputy Director of the Department for Development and Support of Corporate Business of JSC "Rosselkhozbank", Alexey Silakov, Vice-Rector for Science and Innovation of the Russian State University named after A.N. Kosygina, Sergey Puzanov, Chairman of the Committee on the Wool Processing Industry of SOYUZLEGPROM, Alexandra Borisova, Head of the Corporate Business Development Department of Sberbank, Murat Mamkhyagov, CEO of the KORKKI brand, Alexander Perekrest head of the group for interaction with government agencies LAMODA.
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 to achieve the common goal of creating an effective and sustainable sheep wool processing system in Russia.
