Norway has a long tradition with importing clothes and other textiles. For many years Asia was seen as the main trading partner and textile exporter to Norway, but in the last years, other countries in Europe have started to play a bigger role. Ukraine has also for various reasons seen a large growth in the number of factories and export of light industry products. The Ukrainian textile industry is steadily growing when Norway is highly depended on import of textile.

Potential for increased direct trade between Norway and Ukraine

According to Norwegian Statistics (SSB), in 2018 Norwegian import of articles of apparel and accessories amounted to 2 450 million USD in total. The share of the products from Ukraine was only 0,4% of the total import and amounted to around 10 million USD. We in NUCC believe that skilled labor, lower production costs and Ukraine’s neighborship with the EU market can make the Norwegian-Ukrainian cooperation within the textile industry more attractive and there is now great potential for increased direct trade between our two countries.

There are some important reasons to consider Ukraine for cooperation within clothing and textile production:

• Free trade agreement between Ukraine and Norway
• Ukraine has a broad network of international trade partners – 16 FTAs signed that cover 45 countries.
• It is not only cheap to produce apparel and accessories in Ukraine, but it is also trendy! The already established Ukrainian brands are becoming popular in the world. Even Hollywood celebrities often prefer dresses made in Ukraine for the red carpet.

We are now witnessing a unique change in Ukraine when the country is climbing up in Ease of Doing Business ranking, as well as working on improving the rule of law and business climate. Investors, who see this unique chance, are going to benefit shortly.

Margarita Lorentzen, the owner of the atelier and bridal salon Systue Margarita in Ålesund, Norway is very happy with the quality of dresses she gets from Ukraine. “Light industry in Ukraine is on high level, my Norwegian clients are happy with the quality of fabrics and the products”, says Margarita.

The store offers wedding dresses from the famous Ukrainian designer Oksana Mukha and the Ukrainian brand СUTE ТIFFANY. Margarita is sure that the Ukrainian textile market has a lot to offer to the foreign partners today.

Where to start?

Here are some useful links and tips you can use to start your Norwegian-Ukrainian cooperation within the textile industry:

• Look at our step-by-step guide: last year we together with EasyBusiness looked into the most prospective products within Textile and developed Step-by-step guide on how to import textile from Ukraine to Norway. This guide can become the starting point for Norwegian importers and Ukrainian exporters and give some tips on which documents to prepare for submission.
• Check with the Norwegian Customs: Tolletaten has developed Import Guide for Beginner, which is intended for representatives of companies that will start importing goods into Norway. It provides the general rules relating to imports and directs you to more detailed information on various topics.
• Join our first production business trip to Ukraine: if you are a representative of a Norwegian company working with textile and apparel, this is a unique chance for you! During the trip, the participants will find out about the Ukrainian textile production and market, as well as will visit different production bases, attend relevant seminars and Kyiv Fashion Week, participate in B2B meetings and NUCC Networking Forum.

Please reach out to us if you have any questions about the trip or opportunities for production in Ukraine.