The textile industry in Russia wants a ban on imports from Europe and the US. The industry feels it doesn’t make sense to buy manufactured textile products from European Union countries and support their economies. Instead the industry wants European companies to start cooperating with Russian textile companies.

Local Russian textile companies have obviously decided to take advantage of the nationalist mood to get a leg up on foreign competition. This follows Russia’s much publicised destruction of contraband European cheese and other foods. Imported textiles play a big role in Russia’s economy. In the past 14 years, the share of the local textile industry in the GDP has dropped from 12 per cent to four per cent.

But there is also a view that banning foreign clothes or destroying whatever is at the stores right now won’t help anyone. The government should offer local textile companies training, low interest loans and other similar measures. In recent years, the situation in the Russian textile industry has significantly deteriorated. The industry has not yet fully recovered from the consequences of the global crisis. Weak demand has resulted in overstocking of warehouses and an increase in the production costs of industry players.