In Russian, at present the situation in the man-made fibre industry remains complex, this is reflected by the fact that, despite numerous investment projects, which have been declared in Russia in recent years, up to 70% of domestic needs in man-made fibres is met by imports.

The Russian Union of Chemists has inked an agreement with the Russian Union of Entrepreneurs of Textile and Light Industry (Soyuzlegprom) on the design of measures for the support and increased productivity of the country’s man-made fibres industry.

According to Ivanov, head of the Russian Union of Chemists, the Russian textile industry continues to be heavily dependent on China, while among the major problems of the industry is still outdated production and lower operating performance, which results in the underutilization of local production capacities.

Under the agreement signed between the Associations, the partners plan to join forces for the forming of demand for innovative production and to create conditions for the establishment of new production facilities in the industry on the basis of public-private partnership.

As part of the partners’ plans, new legislative initiatives, aimed at improving the situation in the Russian technical textiles and man-made fibres industries, will soon be designed and sent for the consideration of the Russian Parliament and the national government.

In recent years the structure of demand in the domestic man-made fibres industry has significantly changed. In the past the majority of the industry’s output was used in standard textiles and cigarette production, whereas there is now significantly increased demand from industries such as road-building and composite materials.

At present the Russian man-made fibres industry is comprised of 14 large enterprises. The production of man-made fibres and yarns in Russia last year reached about 150,000 tons, according to official data of the Russian Union of Chemists.

With the building of new $300 million complex for the production of man-made fibres in the Ivanovo region, this will have the capacity to produce 200,000 tons of fiber per year.

The factory will be built on the former site of the Ivanovo-furniture enterprise and will have the total area of 70 hectares. Construction work is currently underway and there is a possibility that the new production facility may be launched as early as the end of the current year.

The capacity of the plant will be 15 million linear meters per year. It will produce up to 25 different types of fabrics. There is a possibility that the situation in the industry may be significantly improved in 2015.