Output of fur pelts from Russia remained at 2.7 million for 2001 according to the chief executive of the Russian Fur Union, Viktor Chipurnoy. The figure is the same as that in 2000, and only slightly above the 2.5 million produced in 1999.

Mr Chipurnoy said that Russia was producing four times as many pelts in the early 1990s but expressed relief that the decline from that level appeared to have stopped and production stabilised. Russia now imports fur and leather at the rate of 5-7 million pelts each year.

Share this story: