Work in progress at the sewing enterprise CJSC Alexandria
A meeting of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (RF CCI) Committee on Entrepreneurship in the Textile and Light Industry was held at the CCI of the Russian Federation in the videoconferencing mode, where the problems of garment enterprises were discussed.
This event was initiated by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Krasnodar Territory upon the appeal of the sewing enterprise CJSC Alexandria about the lack of measures of state support for the sewing industry.
Alexandria is one of the biggest sewing factories in the South of Russia. It has a long history of more than 85 years long. Its main products are men`s classic style clothes and overcoats, of brand “Bellford”, and school uniforms, of brand “Class”.
The support measures provided by the state are now suitable only for successfully developing enterprises, but what should the rest do? It was with this question that the representatives of the garment industry turned to the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation for Textile and Light Industry.
Razbrodin Andrey Valentinovich
The session was moderated by Andrey Razbrodin , Chairman of the RF CCI Committee on Entrepreneurship in Textile and Light Industry, and President of the Russian Union of Entrepreneurs of Textile and Light Industry (Soyuzlegprom).
Elena Kosenkova , General Director of Pskov Sewing Factory Slavyanka CJSC, outlined the main problems faced by garment enterprises today: an increase in the cost of components up to 30%, an increase in the cost of logistics (especially cross-border transportation), a lack of materials from manufacturers, a general increase in costs.
Svetlana Stepanova, the chairman of the board of directors of Sudar CJSC, also noted that the real incomes of the population are falling and, as a result, demand is falling, and the decline in sales from 2020 can be called catastrophic. The lack of working capital leads to the impossibility of the development of enterprises, because there is no opportunity to invest in innovative technologies.
Olga Kosets , Chairman of the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Krasnodar Territory on Light Industry, an individual entrepreneur, director of Sofiano LLC , supported the speakers and said that they have now turned to the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory with a request to reduce the tax for the simplified taxation system to 3.5% as it was before 2018, especially since about 50 regions are still using such support measures. She believes that a revision of labor legislation is also necessary, especially for workers in the manufacturing sector of the economy.
Andrey Razbrodin noted that what is happening in the industry is, firstly, the consequences of the growing global economic crisis, and secondly, the measures to support the industry are insufficient. The dependence on logistics, since many components are purchased abroad, the closure of world markets, a decrease in demand as a global trend – all this creates such a situation in the industry.
A. Razbrodin sees the possibility of a solution in changing the internal logistics of the enterprises themselves, the formation of “long” working capital for the creation of internal stocks, obtaining special loans for the purchase of raw materials and materials, receiving subsidies. For this, at the state level, we need a “correct” system of loans, the possibility of subsidizing them.
The experts agreed that the general structure of the garment industry is not up-to-date and requires serious reformatting, the economy and legislative measures in the industry should be primarily protectionist.
To work in this direction, it was proposed to hold an event on the site of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation to consider the existing problems of sewing industries and ways to solve them and prepare a resolution for sending to the authorities.
(Courtesy: Department for work with associations of entrepreneurs, I. Savenkova)
