CLE chairman sets record straight on Russia
India’s Council for Leather Exports (CLE) has denied that the national leather industry as a whole is benefiting from an increase in sales to Russia.
A large number of countries imposed sanctions on exports to Russia following the start of its war with Ukraine in February 2022, but India is one of those that continued to trade with Russia.
At the end of 2022, The Guardian newspaper said India’s leather industry had benefited substantially from this, but CLE chairman, Sanjay Leekha, has denied the claim.
In comments to local media at the start of January, Mr Leekha said a number of individual companies may have increased sales to Russia, but that this did not reflect the overall situation of CLE’s member companies.
He said the US, Germany, Italy, the UK and France were the Indian leather industry’s most important export markets.
