Areas for Improving the Innovation Performance of the Textile Industry in Russia

This paper approaches the situation of the textile sector in Russia, shows its main challenges and presents possible solutions of how to increase the competitiveness of the industry by improving its innovative performance. The textile industry in Russia went through major changes after USSR dissolution in 1991, and its performance has been declining since then. In order for the Russian textile industry to increase its competitiveness, it has to improve its innovation performance. The methods for doing this in the textile industry are presented in the article. They are as follows: (I) switching to different from imported cotton types of raw materials, particularly flax and blended fibres, (2) using stains of better quality, (3) purchasing new production equipment which will allow to switch from mass production orientation to low-volume output, (4) creating joint ventures with foreign firms, leading to employment growth and quality increase, which can result in higher competitiveness of the textile industry in Russia.