Gloria Jeans lost about $1 billion in investments in Russian factories due to sanctions
Gloria Jeans, a Russian clothing manufacturer and retailer, lost approximately $1 billion that it had invested in garment factories in Russia over the course of 30 years. Following the outbreak of full-scale war against Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions, the company was forced to abandon its own production in Russia and relocate it to Southeast Asia.
According to him, the company had invested in production facilities in Russia for three decades, but after the start of the full-scale war, it became increasingly difficult to keep them operational.
Melnikov explained that the main problem was restricted access to the necessary technologies and resources.
“When sanctions were imposed on Russia, our access to the technologies and resources necessary for production was drastically reduced. On our own, we were unable to maintain production at the levels of the 1990s and early 2000s—we lacked both money and resources,” he said.
According to the businessman, the company was ultimately forced to abandon its Russian factories, in which it had invested heavily for decades.
An additional factor was the sharp rise in labor costs in Russia during 2023–2025.
According to The Moscow Times, during this period, average wages in manufacturing rose from approximately $300–500 to $800–1,500, while in Asian countries they remained at $200–500.
After abandoning its Russian factories, Gloria Jeans had to “very quickly” relocate production to Southeast Asia.
As a result, the company lost a significant portion of its investment in its own manufacturing base in Russia and shifted to working with Asian manufacturing sites.
According to Vladimir Melnikov, the company also lost approximately $200 million invested in production in Ukraine due to the war.
Consequently, the total losses incurred by Gloria Jeans due to the war, sanctions, and the restructuring of production amount to approximately $1 billion in investments in Russian factories and an additional $200 million in investments in Ukrainian production.
This was stated by Gloria Jeans founder and CEO Vladimir Melnikov, according to The Moscow Times.
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