The current state of the textile industry to be discussed at the INLEGMASH conference
The INLEGMASH International Industry Conference featured its Opening Session on the Current Situation in the Industry: Trends, Development Prospects, Growth Points.
The session is devoted to the current state of the textile and garment industry in Russia, its key market trends, structural changes, and new growth points. The participating experts discussed the prospects for the industry’s development, the impact of import substitution and localization of production, as well as current government support measures for brands and manufacturers.
The event was moderated by Tatiana Belkevich, President at the Russian Association of Fashion Industry Participants (RAFI).
“Today, the industry is going through one of the most difficult and at the same time crucial stages in recent decades,” said Tatiana Belkevich. “After drastic changes in logistics, structure, imports and the consumer market, the Russian textile industry found itself in accelerated restructuring. The industry’s enterprises are rebuilding their supply chains of raw materials and equipment, more actively developing their own technological competencies, and looking for new sales markets. The most important question is what awaits the Russian textile industry this year, and what are its prospects.”
Evgenia Egorova, Deputy Head at the Regional Development Directorate of the SME Corporation, said that as of January 1, 2026, almost 300,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in the textile industry operate in Russia. This is only 3.5% of the total number of SMEs according to the registry of the Federal Tax Service. Most of the enterprises are registered in Moscow, the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg, the Sverdlovsk Region, and the Ivanovo Region.
“You can find all measures to support SMEs on our digital platform. We will be happy to tell any company, if it contacts us, how to combine these support measures, and how to contact the regional infrastructure offices in order to make their projects more successful and find new partners," said Evgenia Egorova.
Maxim Chapov, Director of Export Support for Construction Materials, Textile Industry and Consumer Goods at the Russian Export Center, stressed that the most priority export markets today are the markets of the CIS countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan,
“Now companies are trying to enter the markets of other countries as well,” said Maxim Chapov. “First of all, we are exploring the countries of Southeast Asia and trying to present our Russian products there. We pay great attention to the countries of the Middle East. The countries of Latin America and the African continent are more labuor-intensive and more difficult for textile industry enterprises, but we are trying to reach these regions as well.”
Olga Malkova, Head at the Assembly for National and International Business Development, explained how to legally reduce taxes by 45%.
Oksana Shashkova, General Director at the Right People marketing agency, and Alyona Kiselyova, Head of Investment Attraction at the Ulyanovsk Region Development Corporation, also spoke at the opening session.
Within the three-day INLEGMASH conference, there will be many events where experts will discuss government support measures, issues of labeling, environmental charges, certification, the best options for building long-term cooperation with customers, as well as the problems of the skills gap in the textile industry.
Knitting production will also be discussed in all aspects from raw materials and equipment to advanced technologies and economic efficiency. Special attention will be paid to the use of AI for production tasks, customer service, support, sales forecasts, control and management of business tasks, etc.
The conference will also discuss issues of digital printing, foreign economic activity and risk reduction in international trade, building long-term cooperation with customers, contract manufacturing in Russia, and much more.
Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO
