Import substitution is the reduction or cessation of imports of certain goods by launching our own production of similar goods.

The most promising sectors for import substitution are the following:

• machine tool industry (the share of imports in consumption, according to various estimates, is more than 90%),
• heavy engineering (60-80%),
• light industry (70-90%),
• electronics industry (80-90%),
• pharmaceutical,
• medical industry (70-80%),
• mechanical engineering for the food industry (60-80%).

Import substitution in these and other industries is possible only if there are appropriate free production capacities and competitive enterprises that can offer quality products at market prices.

In the long term, reducing import dependence is possible through innovation and stimulating investment in technical sectors and the creation of new industries.

Opinion: it is impossible not to notice the country’s enormous successes in the field of agriculture and food industry. Think about it - in the 90s we received humanitarian aid, people were starving. And now we are the first in wheat exports.

Chicken, pork, and for some time now beef – the country is completely self-sufficient. Turkish tomatoes were banned, everyone immediately noticed that it turns out we have excellent vegetables from Rostov - much tastier than any foreign ones. By the way, Turkey is promoting agriculture on its territory by banning the import of fruits and vegetables from other countries - and no complaints against them.

Pasta products - even Italians who know a lot about this consider products from Russia to be of very high quality.

There is a problem with cheeses. She has made progress over the years, but there is still work to be done.

As for clothing, Ivanovo also produces a full range: yes, there are questions about styles and fashion, but the quality is higher than what is massively imported from abroad.

Unfortunately, there are failures in the field of high technology, robotics, biotechnology - at least this is noticeable based on press analysis.

Another positive thing: according to statistics, over the summer of 17 the production of medicines was significantly increased.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, if a well-thought-out policy of import substitution is implemented by 2020, we can count on reducing import dependence in various industries from the level of 70-90% to the level of 50-60%. And in a number of industries it is possible to achieve lower indicators.

Being an open country, integrated into the international economic system, it is difficult for Russia to produce a whole range of goods, due to the fact that these goods produced here will be more expensive. This is criticized because Russia has oil, electricity is cheaper than many of its neighbors, wages are not high - there are all the conditions to develop its industry and agriculture.

A great danger is that for the oil industry, a significant part of the components and services for servicing equipment and wells is provided by foreign companies. In the event of their demarche, the level of oil production will fall. But replacement measures are being taken, including, judging by the media, joint measures with other oil-producing countries.

Definitely, after more than 20 years of an exclusively raw material economy, when we sell metals, oil, gas, fertilizers, and import almost all vital products, it is very difficult to quickly adapt to new rails and start producing many goods ourselves. However, the market economy, demand and a large number of entrepreneurs solve this problem (a similar situation occurred after the war with).

The state creates special industry funds that support large enterprises working in the field of replacement.

What was the reason for the import substitution program

Sanctions restrictions from Western countries have affected supplies in the defense-industrial and fuel-energy complexes and new technologies. Russia has limited the import of a number of food products from countries that imposed sanctions.

Such a large state as Russia cannot be dependent on other countries. During the period of instability of the 90s, the country's leadership, while solving current problems, could not make plans for the future. Now they are being built tens of years in advance, they are being calculated.

The discourse of socialism has been raised. Society became keenly interested in the economy and the paths of the country.

It cannot be said that the reason for import substitution is only sanctions and tense relations with several countries (note, we are talking about only a few countries, albeit very developed ones). Opportunities arose, the country rethought itself and its place. Yes, some things will be more expensive (now almost any product in any country will be more expensive than in China or India), but we cannot not produce our own.

Import substitution in the food industry

• Canned vegetables. "Astrakhan Canning Company" Astrakhan region.
• Dessert. Makfa LLC. Chelyabinsk region.
• Telapia fish. "Fish-breeding complex". Astrakhan region.
• Salmon. "Murmanrybvod" Murmansk region.
• Whey processing. "Lianozovsky Dairy Plant". Moscow city.
• Semi-hard blue cheese. "Tbilisi Creamery" Tbilisi
• Cheese. Cheese factory "Russian Parmesan". Moscow region.
• Sunflower oil. Agrofirm "Rus". Belgorod region.
• Lysine. Agroholding "Yubileiny". Tyumen region.
• Coffee. "Gazpromneft gas station network." Moscow region.
• Meat products. Meat processing complex. Mordovia.
• Meat. Breeding farm "Ladozhsky". Leningrad region.
• Chicken meat, egg. LLC Poultry Farm Vladimirskaya. Astrakhan region.
• Trout caviar. Trout breeding plant "Adler". Adler

Exhibition Import Substitution

The exhibition is based on collective expositions of Russian regions, which will represent enterprises, organizations and departments involved in the production of import-substituting products. The Moscow region is represented by both individual cities and enterprises. However, it was interesting to see what they were doing in the regions.

Ryazan Oblast.


Voronezh region.


Vologda Region.


Lipetsk region – very bright, representative, one of the best stands.


Altai Territory - this stand is always surrounded by attention - it is also very representative and interesting.


Tula region.


Krasnodar region is stylish and noticeable.

Next is our small sketch of individual stands.


Domestic motherboards and information security systems.


Snowmobiles.


Something incredibly large and powerful, and even with a boat motor at the back.


We rake everything out.


Mobile trading solutions.


Medicine.

The problem of import substitution, that is, the replacement of foreign-made goods on the Russian market with domestic ones, is not new and is periodically raised, including by the country’s leadership. First of all, import substitution is associated with solving one of the main tasks of the Russian economy - its diversification. However, the authorities made an attempt to develop a coherent policy only after the introduction of sanctions. Thus, the need to overcome critical dependence on foreign technologies and industrial products was discussed in the message of the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly at the end of 2014. Use the situation emerging due to sanctions to reach new development levels President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin called during the “direct line” in April of this year.

Currently, according to government estimates, the share of imports in various sectors of the economy is extremely high. For example, Russia imports more than 80% of components in civil aircraft manufacturing, about 70% in heavy engineering, 60% in oil and gas equipment, about 50% in power equipment, and from 50% to 90% in agricultural machinery, depending on the product category. parts, etc.

Anti-crisis measures for 2015 in the new Internet version of the GARANT system. Take advantage of free access for 3 days!

There is a popular opinion that difficult moments for the Russian economy, associated with a decrease in foreign demand for raw materials supplied by Russia and the natural devaluation of the ruble, are a kind of window of opportunity for the development of domestic industry and deepening import substitution. However, despite a number of “successful” moments in this sense - these are, for example, the crises of 1998 and 2008, the state did not take full advantage of them. This problem is periodically raised at various levels. So, in 2011 Dmitry Medvedev, who held the post of President of the Russian Federation at that time, at a meeting with representatives of small businesses in the Penza region spoke about the ineffectiveness of the import substitution program in force at that time.

OPINION

Vladislav Korochkin, vice-president of the All-Russian public organization of small and medium-sized businesses "OPORA RUSSIA":

“Plans for the implementation of import substitution in Russia can be implemented if the price of domestic products is competitive. This was to a certain extent facilitated by the devaluation of the ruble that occurred at the end of last year: domestic products have become significantly cheaper compared to similar ones produced abroad. However, the devaluation works for import substitution only in the short term. It is necessary to actively use other mechanisms to reduce the cost of products, such as reducing non-production, administrative costs (excessive requirements for businesses when receiving government services, mandatory payments, etc.) and increasing competition in the domestic market. , the manufacturers themselves, before starting directly to production, must adequately analyze the market (and not only domestic, but also global, if we want to truly develop the industry), so that the product finds its buyer and occupies a certain niche without the use of administrative levers."

From words to deeds - a whole mile

As part of the policy of import substitution announced by the country's leadership, the first acts have already been adopted. In April 2014, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a new edition of the state program of the Russian Federation “Development of Industry and Increasing its Competitiveness” (). One of the main objectives of the state program, designed until 2020, is to reduce the share of imports of products, including those used by domestic manufacturers, into our country.

A month later, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a list of instructions on additional measures to stimulate economic growth, including import substitution in industry and agriculture. In pursuance of the president’s instructions, the government prepared a Plan to Promote Import Substitution in Industry. At the end of 2014, the import substitution program in agriculture was approved ().

Financial assistance for import substitution

The allocation of funds to support import substitution occurs in the form of subsidies and co-financing of research, as well as the provision of grants and preferences for public procurement.

Thus, in the fall of 2014, the government adopted a program to support investment projects implemented in Russia on the basis of project financing (). This program was developed with the aim of increasing the volume of lending to organizations in the real sector of the economy on long-term and preferential terms.

The program finances only projects selected as a result of a competition, implemented before 2018 in certain sectors of the economy:

• Agriculture;
• manufacturing industry;
• chemical production;
• mechanical engineering;
• housing construction;
• transport;
• communications and telecommunications;
• energy.

In accordance with the terms of the program, investment projects worth from 1 billion to 20 billion rubles receive state financial support. The borrower will have to pay at least 20% of the project cost himself. The borrower is provided with a targeted loan by an authorized bank in rubles at 9% per year. Moreover, the funds spent by banks on providing loans will be reimbursed by the Bank of Russia. Currently, 10 Russian credit institutions and international financial organizations have been selected to participate in the program - their list can be found on the official website of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development. The interest rate on the loan is calculated using the following formula: 6.5% – the rate of refinancing loans for investment projects determined by the Bank of Russia () + 2.5%. The first component may subsequently be set at a different amount, which means that the conditions for financing entrepreneurs may change.

An important condition of the program is the requirement to locate the production site of the project being implemented in Russia.

It also provides for the provision of government guarantees for loans issued under the program. Guarantees are given for loans issued for a period of three to 20 years, in the amount of up to 25% of the borrower's obligations. The total amount of funds allocated for these purposes this year is 60 billion rubles (clause 8 of section 1.1 of Appendix 39 to the Federal Law of December 1 No. 384-FZ "").

The register of selected investment projects has already included:

A similar measure of financial support for import substitution was the allocation by the government of targeted loans from the federal budget to enterprises implementing import substitution projects. Since August 2014, the Industrial Development Fund has been operating, whose tasks include financing projects at the pre-production stage. True, its budget is not so large: 20 billion rubles, despite the fact that, according to the fund, from January to April 2015, more than 800 applications were received for a total amount of about 280 billion rubles. from different companies. The fund provides loans to industrial enterprises for a period of five to seven years at a rate of 5% per annum. Borrowing companies must meet a number of requirements:

• have a positive credit history;
• the loan amount must be secured by the applicant's net assets or provided collateral, such as a bank guarantee;
• the funded project must be aimed at introducing advanced technologies, creating new products or organizing import-substituting industries.

Foreign companies and companies with offshore registration will not be able to receive a loan from the fund, with the exception of companies that have received the status of a national manufacturer and have entered into a special investment contract.

The concept of “special investment contract”, which is new to Russian law, is contained in the Federal Law “On Industrial Policy in the Russian Federation” (), which has not yet entered into force. Such a contract is a form of cooperation between investors and the state wishing to create, modernize or master the production of certain industrial products in Russia. At the same time, the authorities undertake to provide investors with tax benefits and benefits for the payment of customs duties, as well as guarantees against unfavorable changes in current legislation during the term of the contract.

It is not yet possible to assess the real effect of such a partnership, since the relevant regulations will only come into force on July 1, 2015. However, there is reason to believe that putting the relationship between the manufacturer and the state in a similar form will give O greater confidence in the success of such projects than, for example, public-private partnerships by creating conditions for the stability of legal regulation.

At the same time, the list of tools to support projects in the field of import substitution is planned to be expanded. According to Arkady Dvorkovich, their full complex will be developed by July 1 of this year. Thus, at the end of May, the government decided to submit for consideration to the State Duma a proposal to reduce the tax burden on newly created enterprises for the production of goods (Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 22, 2015 No. 926-r). The bill proposes to grant constituent entities of the Russian Federation the right to reduce taxes for participants in regional investment projects by reducing the corporate income tax to 10% in the part of the tax going to the regional budget, and to 0% in the part of the tax going to the federal budget.

In addition to direct support for enterprises, it is planned to introduce special measures to stimulate import substitution, including through state and municipal procurement. Thus, the government quite actively uses the right to limit the purchase of goods originating from foreign countries.

Purchases of certain types of foreign-made goods are limited, such as medical products, mechanical engineering and light industry goods, as well as goods purchased for the purposes of national defense (,).

The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade places great hopes on standardization as a tool for import substitution in government procurement. Corresponding amendments to the legislation on the contract system are under consideration in the State Duma. It is planned to clarify the rules for describing the procurement object in such a way that when implementing them, preference is given to products that meet national standards.

Import substitution in real time

In pursuance of the January anti-crisis plan (), in April of this year the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Energy of Russia developed 19 sectoral import substitution programs for the coming years. Within the framework of the prepared programs, events are planned in such industries as:

• pharmaceutical industry ();
• heavy engineering ();
• software ()
• aircraftbuilding();
• shipbuilding (), etc.

As the Deputy Chairman of the Government said at a briefing following a government meeting in early April of this year Arkady Dvorkovich, Within the framework of these programs, it is planned to implement a total of approximately 2.5 thousand projects. The Director of the Department for Promotion of Investments and Innovations of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry adds that the implementation of these programs will allow even in the most sensitive sectors, for example, machine tool industry, to reduce import dependence from the current 88% to 40% by 2020. The implementation of these measures will require 159 billion rubles. budget funds. However, it is planned that over a 20-year period this will help attract budget revenues in the amount of up to 2.2 trillion rubles. (increase by 13.6 times).

USEFUL TOOLS

The interpretation of a legal or economic term can be found in the GARANT system. To do this, you need to call the tab with a list of terms in the explanatory dictionary (F12) and enter the appropriate query, for example, “import substitution”. For a term encountered while reading a document, you can call up the dictionary by highlighting the desired fragment (or by hovering the cursor over an individual word) and calling the “Find in Explanatory Dictionary” command by clicking the right mouse button.

The General Director of the Association of Russian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers complains about the shortcomings of legal regulation of the import substitution policy in the pharmaceutical industry Victor Dmitriev. At the same time, he emphasizes, the domestic pharmaceutical industry has actually been working in this direction for many years, reproducing copies of original medicines. Thus, any so-called generic (reproduced drug) is a repetition of the original medicine, usually of imported origin. Therefore, import substitution for pharmaceuticals, according to the expert, is a daily, routine work and there are no fundamental innovations in this matter. At the same time, Viktor Dmitriev notes a problem similar to that existing in the software market: organizing the production of a drug in itself is not as difficult as bringing the created drug to the market. Back in September last year, the government posted for public discussion a draft resolution, which in the industry is called “the third is superfluous”: on limiting the participation in budget auctions of suppliers of imported drugs if there are two or more participants offering domestic drugs. However, the matter has not yet progressed beyond the project.

In addition, according to Viktor Dmitriev, existing registration procedures require improvements. For example, despite the fact that there is no need to register pharmaceutical substances, the law requires their inclusion in the state register of medicines (clause 2, part 1, article 33 of the Federal Law of April 12, 2010 No. 61-FZ ""), which in fact is a repetition of the registration procedure. Therefore, Russian drug manufacturers are losing to foreign competitors who enter the market with a ready-made drug and are not required to enter the substance in its composition into the register.

The Russian software development industry is rightfully considered one of the dynamically developing sectors of the domestic economy. A number of Russian software products are consistently in demand not only in neighboring countries, but also in the global market. This is also the merit of the state. Thus, since 2011, software developers have been paying insurance premiums at a reduced rate (Federal Law No. 212-FZ of July 24, 2009 “On Insurance Contributions to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation, the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund ").

Almost a year later, the corresponding draft laws and regulations were prepared. In general, it is planned to reduce dependence on foreign software by making the government order market more accessible to domestic companies. The proposed projects imply a maximum limitation on the ability to purchase foreign software, except in cases where there are no domestic analogues of the necessary programs, or if the available ones do not meet the requirements set by the customer. In this case, customers will have to justify their choice in favor of foreign software so that Russian developers are informed about the needs of the market. At the same time, it is intended to recognize software as domestic if it has been included by the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia in the appropriate register.

The editors of the GARANT.RU portal were unable to obtain comments on the implementation of import substitution programs from representatives of the aircraft and shipbuilding industries.

Pace without quality is not pace, but profanity

At the end of April, by government order, the Autonomous non-profit organization "Russian Quality System" () was established. Member of the interdepartmental working group on the creation of the Russian quality system Elena Sarattseva explained to the GARANT.RU portal, the Russian quality system is being created in order to promote high-quality Russian goods to domestic and foreign markets, as well as increase confidence in Russian products. The Cabinet of Ministers notes on its official website that, among other things, the Russian quality system should serve to solve the problem of import substitution. In addition to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, Rosstandart, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, the All-Russian public organization of small and medium-sized enterprises "OPORA RUSSIA" and other public and scientific organizations and associations worked on the creation of ANO "Roskachestvo".

It is planned that goods for testing in laboratories accredited by ANO Roskachestvo will be purchased at retail sales points in Russia. The test results will be published in the public domain on the official website of Roskachestvo.

Products that have successfully passed the voluntary certification procedure will be awarded the Russian Quality Mark. At the same time, product certification for obtaining will be completely free for manufacturers. The right to label products with the Quality Mark will be issued for a period of two or three years (depending on the product category), after which the product can again undergo voluntary certification by Roskachestvo. Moreover, if the population receives complaints about the quality of products that have received the Russian Quality Mark, unscheduled inspections of these products will be carried out. If information about non-compliance with quality or localization requirements is confirmed, then the right to use the Quality Mark from such a product will be revoked.

The organization is financed from the federal budget, adds Elena Saratseva, this ensures the independence of research and certification. Already this year, Roskachestvo will conduct extensive research on products in 30 categories. Each study sample will include b O Most of the products presented in each category (up to 50 samples). It is expected that the first Quality Marks will be awarded this year.

Protective measures: the other side of the coin

At the same time, protective measures, despite their obvious benefits for domestic producers, may also pose hidden threats to the economy. For example, the embargo on the import of food products into our country from countries that supported anti-Russian sanctions has significantly reduced the competition of Russian farmers with foreign producers in the food market. At first glance, it may seem that such foreign policy measures played exclusively into the hands of domestic agricultural producers. However, the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, in its report published in October 2014, expresses concerns about a possible acceleration of inflation if Russia fails to fully replace imports of food and raw materials that are under the embargo. And the speed of replenishing the resulting deficit, the department emphasizes, is limited by the capabilities of the existing production facilities.

Again, the production of some food products uses imported raw materials, the access of producers to which has ceased. Sergey Fakhretdinov, a member of the coordinating council of the All-Russian public organization "Business Russia", a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, adds that the problem of the shortage of raw materials indispensable for the production of domestic products is also acute in high-tech industries. Thus, according to him, the Russian petrochemical industry, whose products are used by almost all industries, lags far behind advanced countries. Replenishing the shortage of chemical raw materials using internal resources will require significant effort and time.

***

It can be stated that Russia has launched a global campaign to satisfy domestic demand using domestic producers. At the same time, experts talk about the need to make this process more systematic. Thus, according to the first vice-president of the All-Russian public organization of small and medium-sized enterprises "OPORA RUSSIA" Vladislav Korochkin, it is necessary to create a set of permanent mechanisms that would allow setting specific tasks and introduce tools to track their implementation, otherwise the process of import substitution will again take place chaotic character.

In addition, a logical question arises: what scenario will the process follow? Will the end of this large-scale work be the creation of a product that is an analogue of a foreign one, or will we go further and in a number of areas be able to compete for existing foreign markets? The plans of the country's leadership in this regard can be judged by a number of statements. Thus, Vladimir Putin at the XVIII St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in May last year separately emphasized the need to approach import substitution selectively, to carry it out only in those areas where it is promising, where domestic products will be competitive. The same idea was developed by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during his annual report to the State Duma in April of this year, adding that import substitution will not lead to Russia’s economic self-isolation. However, time will tell how the economy will develop in reality.

Attention!

The VVS company provides exclusively analytical services and does not consult on theoretical issues of marketing fundamentals(calculation of capacity, pricing methods, etc.)

This article is for informational purposes only!

You can familiarize yourself with the full list of our services.

In contact with

Classmates

Three years have passed since the introduction of sanctions against the Russian Federation in 2014. At the very beginning, the question arose of reducing the dependence of the country's economy on Western producers. The government created an import substitution program, the results of which can now be assessed by the decline in the import of imported goods. The highest profits came from certain import substitution sectors in 2016; we will analyze them below.

The most developed sectors of import substitution in Russia

Among the ten most dynamically developing segments of the Russian economy, which are included, mechanical engineering occupies the last step.

• Place number 10. Mechanical engineering.

The fundamental sector of the economy of the Russian state, unfortunately, was more than 80% dependent on the import of products from outside. This means that the entire economic system of the country is vulnerable. It should be noted that at this stage, the work of machine-building enterprises, suspended due to restrictions, is being restored. For example, the Saratov Heavy Gear Cutting Machine Plant is resuming its activities, the Chernovskiye TsEMM enterprise is once again producing components for mining equipment, and new models of hydraulic excavators are rolling off the Uralmashplant assembly line.

• Place No. 9. Textile production.

In various sectors of the sector, imports ranged from approximately 30 to 50%. The main problems of light industry that import substitution can solve: there are not enough enterprises in the country engaged in the production of fabrics and clothing, and there is also a limited supply of primary products on the domestic market - cotton, flax, etc.

In this industry of import substitution, new or redirected old production has already begun work: the clothing factory of BTK Knitwear LLC in the Tula region has been modernized, the Textile Industry company has opened in Kabardino-Balkaria - one of the largest knitwear manufacturers in the country.

Breeding work is underway to develop cold-resistant cotton varieties for cultivation in cool agricultural regions of Russia. Thus, the Volgograd region has been a supplier of this raw material on the domestic market of the Russian Federation for two years now.

• Place No. 8. Production of fish products.

Previously, import substitution was not a problem in this industry, since imports here were relatively small. But here, thanks to investments, significant changes have appeared. LLC Fishing Company Polar Sea+ opened a fish and seafood processing factory in the Murmansk region with the ability to produce up to 10,000 tons of finished product per year. Among other things, it uses super-freezing technology to produce frozen fish.

Three years ago, tilapia was supplied to Russia exclusively from abroad; now this fish is grown in the Astrakhan region. The new farm will produce up to 1,000 tons of products per year. And the Khabarovsk Territory is implementing an import substitution program - creating a fish processing enterprise on the basis of old workshops.

• Place No. 7. Tourist services.

Many Russian regions, before the introduction of the import substitution policy, were of little interest to the tourism industry due to the lack of infrastructure, developed routes and interesting sites to visit. At the level of regional authorities, new tourism brands are being developed and investors are being attracted. This industry is looking for destinations that attract not only those who like to actively relax and get emotional relief. The emphasis is on intellectual, gastronomic and medical tourism, visiting new unique cultural centers.

Novorossiysk implements a new type of service for the region - wine tourism. A number of new routes are being introduced, such as the “Silver Necklace of Russia”, with a focus on import substitution, expanding the existing Altai resort areas. The introduction of a national ticket reservation system is very important for the development of domestic tourism.

• Place No. 6. Oil and gas production.

The oil and gas industry brings the largest revenues to the treasury of the Russian Federation. A number of enterprises in this sector actively participated in their industry’s import substitution program in 2016 and earlier. Gazprom responded promptly - it will receive specific equipment for the gas industry from the domestic plant Trubodetal.

The import substitution strategy promotes the development of domestic manufacturing bases through investment programs. Thanks to them, Prompribor began to produce equipment for transporting raw materials from the well itself to the processing site.

• Place No. 5. Medical industry.

In this industry of import substitution, the emphasis is on pharmacological innovations and the creation of something fundamentally new. Russian analogues of imported drugs are being introduced. Generics of medicines that were previously imported from abroad are already produced in Kazan. Intelligent prostheses for children are manufactured in Arkhangelsk, innovative drugs to combat tuberculosis and atherosclerosis are created in the Irkutsk region. In accordance with the new industrial policy and focus on import substitution, clustering of pharmaceutical production is being introduced in the regions, which will help stabilize the industry and integrate scientific developments and widespread production.

• Place No. 4. Transport production.

Imports almost played a key role in the production of basic parts for most types of transport. After the introduction of new economic strategies for a number of transport complexes, the use of domestic components increased to 93%. Russia, addressing the issue of import substitution in this industry, is expanding its production, and Transpnevmatika OJSC will now produce the latest braking equipment for trains at its base. Including for Gazprom, Kurgankhimmash launched the production of offshore tank containers, which until now have not been produced in our country. The Ulan-Ude LVRZ has mastered the production of components previously imported from Ukraine for the repair of diesel locomotives.

• Place No. 3. Production of computer software.

Unfortunately, the use of foreign software still prevails in the country. Without office suites and special programs, the work of large companies and corporations will be paralyzed, and the public administration system will fail. The transfer of major enterprises and government bodies to Russian software developments is one of the most important tasks of import substitution.

To build reliable information systems in each industry that are protected from intrusions of various kinds, our own Zircon integration platform has been created. The development of the Unified Register of Russian Software has been completed. In fact, Russian Railways, Rostelecom, Sberbank and other key companies of the Russian Federation were excluded from their work by Western programs. Work is actively underway on import substitution in the field of mobile operating systems.

• Place No. 2. Chemical industry.

Leading chemists, as part of the program for this sector of import substitution, are tasked with synthesizing substances that can open up new opportunities for Russian industry. As a result of research, the first plant in the Russian Federation for the production of modern packaging was opened in Tatarstan. PJSC Omsk Kauchuk is restoring the production of commercial latex. And Nizhnekamskneftekhim began producing polyethylene for cable insulation coating, previously produced from foreign materials.

• Place No. 1. Agricultural production.

Western sanctions have caused noticeable changes in the country's agricultural sector. A colossal layer of agricultural products required import substitution - from meat and dairy products to elite seeds. Several years of work to saturate the domestic market with such goods have yielded noticeable results.<

For example, Altai supplies marbled beef under the import substitution program, and production is growing. Over 1,500 hectares of area have been allocated for growing horticultural crops in Dagestan. The Cherkizov Group is expanding its poultry farming in the Lipetsk region. Thanks to the construction of the greenhouse plant, TyumenAgro has become the largest supplier of fresh plant products in the region. Every year the development of all areas of the agricultural sector in the Russian Federation is gaining momentum.

The leading sector of import substitution in 2016 is agriculture

One of the highly profitable industries in Russia is the agro-industrial complex. Its resources, with an appropriate level of technical support, were sufficient to support production in this segment. The laws of economic competition dictate the need to increase the efficiency of all subjects of market relations.

But our producers, unfortunately, were not sufficiently prepared for foreign commodity expansion; this was partly the reason for the reformation of economic policy. Import substitution has become the best solution in this difficult situation. For the Russian agricultural sector, it is intended to become a kind of bridge for the transition to a new technological level of work.

The concept of the import substitution program in the industry harmoniously fits into the main ideas of the “Doctrine of Food Security of the Russian Federation”, approved in 2010. The latest document has been revised several times, but its essence remains unchanged: in the Russian market it is necessary to create conditions that allow domestic producers to stand firmly on their feet, which will make the industry's economy virtually independent of the import of goods from outside. Import substitution eventually became one of the ways to implement the doctrine. The decrease in the import of imported products, by the way, led to a correction in the development program for the Russian agricultural sector.

But questions also arose in the field of macroeconomics, technological base and agro-ecological factors. These problems may be exacerbated in the event of a significant reduction in imports or a complete rejection of foreign products. Experts recommend not to be overzealous with restrictions and maintain a balance.

Objectives for the development of the agro-industrial complex:

The primary task in this area of ​​import substitution is to support the integration process, which is aimed at improving the interaction of economic entities in the agricultural sector at different levels of management.

Optimization of effective control and management of the agro-industrial complex, which will help increase the productivity of farming as the basis of the entire industry.

Stimulating (as part of import substitution) the introduction of new economic instruments to support the industry, optimizing logistics in the process of interaction between partners, actively resolving issues of distribution and consumption of finished products and raw materials.

As a result of a study of the work of agricultural enterprises, their ineffectiveness in meeting the needs of modern consumers was revealed. This applies to both the quality of the product and secondary issues of interaction between all subjects.

The strategic goals that the state import substitution program sets for farmers can be achieved provided that a number of issues that have arisen in this industry for a long time are resolved. Among other things, it is necessary to expand the flow of investment in agriculture, optimize efficient land use, land reclamation, eliminate production stagnation in cattle breeding, stimulate domestic mechanical engineering to solve the needs of agriculture, etc.

Factors and features of agricultural development in the Russian Federation:

This industry is still partially dependent on supplies from abroad. It is not possible to fully provide the corresponding niches with your product in all its segments. As a result, there is a imbalance in production efficiency in various sub-sectors.

In the agricultural sector of import substitution, everything significantly depends on government support. Therefore, a whole array of measures, including a program for the development of private farming, is being developed at the state level, with an emphasis on regions with great agro-industrial potential.

The technical and technological backwardness of the industry is an important problem of import substitution, which stands in the way of increasing the efficiency of agricultural enterprises. The income of primary level producers in the agricultural process is not enough to modernize the technical base.

Market accessibility for producers also plays a big role. The backward infrastructure hinders the solution of the tasks set by the import substitution program in agriculture. Its inefficiency greatly affects the industry itself and the economic situation as a whole. This is clearly reflected in small enterprises, which are already struggling to compete with large chains of Russian commodity producers.

At this stage of the import substitution program, the Russian market is closed to foreign manufacturers. But it is completely unreasonable to reject foreign experience in the agricultural sector. For example, import substitution in agriculture can lead to a system based on the principle of closed production within the industry. Manufacturers will be involved in logistics chains and supplying goods to shelves. But a deep modernization of interaction patterns between market participants at all levels will be required. But the producers themselves will significantly increase their income, and for the consumer the price of the product will be significantly lower.

Problems in the development of the import substitution industry

The Federal Customs Service indicated that by mid-2017, the import of foreign products into Russia increased by almost 1/4. Various conclusions emerge. For example, the process of import substitution in any sector is so far nothing more than a utopia for the Russian economy. Or maybe this is the result of increased demand, i.e. the increased percentage of purchases shows that the crisis situation for consumers and investors is gradually being resolved. In any case, the ruble exchange rate is still a key stimulator of imports.

Compared to favorable times for the country, import figures are low, despite a jump in this figure at the beginning of 2017. In the second half of the pre-crisis year 2014, Russians purchased foreign goods worth $152 billion. And the last result slightly exceeded 1/2 of the data for this period.

The “machinery and equipment” category, despite the achievements of the mechanical engineering industry in import substitution, is the leader in foreign supplies. May 2017 – 52.2% (of total imports), June – 53%. Last June, 2016, showed 49%, and these figures can become proof of positive trends in the country’s economy.

But imports of consumer goods have also increased significantly. Thus, in June, footwear and textile products were imported by 36.2% more. The total amount turned out to be over a billion dollars. Imports of medicines also increased slightly.

The strengthening of the ruble exchange rate was enough for a rapid increase in purchases from abroad. At the beginning of 2016, the average value of the dollar fluctuated around 70 rubles, and 57-58 rubles in the first half of 2017. The above examples showed the inconsistency of import substitution programs for most industries.

There is an exception. Import indicators in the agricultural sector and food production continue to decline. Against the background of a jump in import purchases in other industries, a decrease of 3.1% seems noticeable. The tasks in this area of ​​import substitution are still gradually being realized.

The decrease in imports is partly due to the continued reduction in spending by our citizens. The demand for premium products, most often of imported origin, has fallen almost to zero. And the lifting of the embargo in the food industry is not yet expected.

But a major problem in macroeconomics may arise: with an increase in imports, GDP growth (part of which is net exports) will begin to decline, due to the fact that the balance of payments will decrease. Although, according to experts, this is a matter of the distant future.

The main law for economic growth in the country is the excess of exports over imports of goods. Stimulating import substitution has been used by many countries, and this policy is currently being practiced.

Import substitution is the process of replacing imported goods with domestic ones.

To implement the import substitution program, the government of the country can use several methods, which are used both individually and in combination:

• tariff methods - involve increasing duties on imported goods;
• non-tariff methods, within which quotas are established or the need to obtain certain licenses for the import of goods is introduced;
• stimulating the production of goods on the territory of the state itself.

Many countries have moved through import substitution, and their experience shows both the positive and negative aspects of import substitution.

We present a comparative description of import substitution in Table 1.

Table 1

Positive aspects of import substitution	Negative aspects of import substitution
Increase in employment of the population in conditions of development of own production;	The efficiency of national companies decreases as a result of softening competition;
Increasing the economic security of the country;	With small volumes of the domestic market, restricting imports will lead to an increase in production costs;
Increasing the level of education when it is necessary to develop innovative industries for the country.	Substitution of high-tech products is difficult if the development of its products is insufficient.

Problems of import substitution in Russia

In 2014, the Russian government set a course for import substitution. Stimulating domestic producers was chosen as the main method of its implementation.

The need for import substitution in the domestic economy is long overdue. The Russian economy has long been exclusively focused on raw materials, which has led to import dependence in industry, trade and other sectors.

According to the Government of the Russian Federation, the share of imports in industry for machine tool building is 90%, for mechanical engineering - 70%, - 60%, for equipment in the energy industry - 50%, agricultural machinery - from 50 to 90% (depending on the product category). In the pharmaceutical industry, the share of imports reaches 90%.

The impetus for the development of an import substitution program was the sanctions of Western countries against Russia.

At the beginning of 2014, state program No. 328 “Development of industry and increasing its competitiveness” was prepared, the implementation period of which is scheduled until 2020.

Import substitution program in Russia: from words to deeds

In the fall of 2014, the Government began to actively support investment projects as part of import substitution.

• directly, namely through subsidies, grants and preferences;
• indirectly - through an increase in the volume of commercial loans that banks provide to enterprises on preferential terms.

The main sectors of the economy that received the opportunity of state support within the framework of the import substitution program are:

The dependence of the domestic market on foreign supplies has a long list of goods, which enhances this importance. Russian industry today cannot satisfy domestic demand both quantitatively and qualitatively.

One of the reasons for this is the decline in the domestic industrial market in the last twenty years.

It is possible to overcome import dependence if domestic manufacturing plants are able to produce competitive products comparable in price and quality to foreign analogues.

There are two ways to implement import substitution in Russian industry:

• full utilization of production capacities and their expansion;
• technological update of the production process.

The government has developed 20 separate import substitution programs, which include more than two thousand areas of production, including:

• pharmaceutical production;
• chemical production;
• automotive industry;
• machine tool and other areas.

For each industry, enterprises that will take part in the program have been identified, and incentive measures have been developed for them that take into account their specifics.

To monitor the implementation of these programs, working groups have been created that summarize interim quarterly results and also help establish communication between the manufacturer and the buyer.

According to the results of the 3 quarters of 2016, there is an increase in production in the following areas (compared to the same period last year):

• steam boilers, nuclear reactors +17%;
• machines +10%;
• medications +11.8%;
• cast iron and steel pipes +6.9%.

Import substitution in the IT sector

The 21st century is the century of high technology. But the current situation in the Russian software market leaves much to be desired. The country's dependence on foreign software is high, both for domestic use and at the level of large enterprises.

Displacing global brands from the market by even 10% will not be an easy task, since the massive purchase of the IT base was made from Western suppliers, and is now being serviced by them. Even in the banking sector, the use of Western software is ubiquitous.

The main task in implementing the import substitution program in the IT sector is not the rejection of foreign programs, but the creation of such conditions in the country under which:

• High-quality software will be developed in the country;
• In software development teams from different countries, at least half of the team will be represented by Russian programmers;
• The intellectual property for the developed software will belong to domestic enterprises.

In Table 2 we present the results of the implementation of import substitution in the IT area that must be achieved.

table 2

Thus, if the results of import substitution are positive, Russia will be able to move away from import dependence in many sectors of the economy. Stimulating domestic production will create jobs and improve the financial situation of the country's population.

The events of 2014, after which Western countries imposed sanctions, resulted in the need for urgent import substitution of products. The military-industrial complex market is no exception. However, a complete victory for the domestic manufacturer has not yet happened. One of the main reasons is bureaucracy. Industrialists told Mil.Press Military that the volume of accompanying documentation for supplies in the interests of the defense industry for Russian manufacturers and foreign companies is not comparable in volume.

A familiar supplier is better than a Russian one

An interesting situation can be observed in marine engineering. It is the equipment sets that determine the functional purpose of the vessel, its operational characteristics, and operating efficiency. From the middle of the last century until the end of the 1990s, almost everything necessary for the construction of ships and vessels was produced by enterprises of the Soviet Union, and after the collapse of the USSR - by the states that were previously part of it. The volume of imports was minimal and concerned special equipment. We mainly purchased materials for furnishing premises, some types of diesel engines and propulsion systems. With the liquidation of many enterprises, the situation with the supply of equipment changed dramatically.

For many items, there was simply no alternative to imports. At the same time, a sharp turn after the introduction of Western sanctions, when an urgent course towards import substitution was taken, did not happen.

A similar situation, according to the general director of Kingisepp Machine-Building Equipment (KMZ) Anatoly Rusin, has developed in the marine diesel industry. “Historically, only domestically produced engines were used. In the 2000s, a course was set for imported ones, which largely replaced domestic manufacturers,” he noted.

Currently, estimates of the share of imports in shipbuilding differ due to different approaches to calculation. For example, Vitaly Makarov, deputy director of the Vineta machine-building plant, estimates the share of imported equipment used in the construction of warships at 10%. In civil courts, in his opinion, it is 90-95%. Nikita Maksimov, project manager at MSS, which recently proposed replacing the damaged American wastewater filtration system on the icebreaker Viktor Chernomyrdin, puts the figure at 50%.

There is still a large share of imports in electronics.

“In the market that we represent, a share of 70 to 95% belongs to foreign companies. Companies such as Schneider Electric and Siemens play a significant role,” says Semyon Turitsyn, head of the state defense department at the Kursk Electrical Apparatus Plant (KEAZ) .

The publication's interlocutors admitted that in recent years their enterprises have created import-substituting products, but in fact they were never able to completely oust foreign competitors due to the volume of documentation. According to industrialists, the need to create a large number of permits is due to the current system of standards describing the development and delivery to production.

“When developing a new product, state tests and the mechanism for putting the product into production and acceptance for supply take at least a year. If we comply with all these norms and requirements, we will never achieve proper results in import substitution,” says Vitaly Makarov.

The publication's interlocutor points out that when making a decision on the supply of imported equipment, due to the lack of a Russian analogue, the first is considered serial and does not pass the full range of tests, unlike domestic ones.

On the other hand, the editorial source in the management of a company producing deck equipment does not believe that the presence of a large share of imported components on the market is in itself bad.

“This is a given. Preferences in tenders for domestic suppliers are significant; another question is how quickly they are provided,” he noted.

Whose package of documents is thicker?

Industrialists admitted to the publication that they feel that they are participating in competitions based on the volume of the package of documents. Alexey Zyuzin, deputy general director of NPK Morsvyazavtomatika, spoke about the “clear imbalance” towards foreign components. The company's activities include hydroacoustics, training simulators and marine drones.

“A domestic supplier must have military approval and a large package of documents - an instruction manual, technical specifications, passport, form. Foreign companies can supply without instructions and without military acceptance,” Zyuzin noted.

The publication’s interlocutor believes that it would be logical to equate imported products with quality control departments. “It turns out that we cannot use Russian products that have passed the quality control department, but have not passed military acceptance, but we can use imported components without quality control,” he concluded.

Anatoly Rusin expressed a similar opinion, noting that foreign suppliers are required to have a minimum of documentation. “This is a form, a register certificate, a quality certificate and an instruction manual. As for domestic products, documentation for compliance with all GOSTs must be developed and agreed with the customer, and literally every step must be spelled out: from the purchase of raw materials to assembly and testing,” – he told the Mil.Press Military correspondent.

The general director of KMZ also mentioned that the scope of testing for Russian and foreign suppliers differs significantly, not in favor of domestic enterprises, and it takes a lot of time to agree on prices from the company’s main economic indicators to contracts for the purchase of materials and components.

Nikita Maksimov adds that GOST requirements for the documentation of domestic manufacturers require undivided use of the product up to repair or modification on its own. This requires detailed instructions and descriptions. “Imported equipment is built on a service model: if something fails, call the supplier and that’s it. Hence, there are colossal discrepancies in the documentation,” he believes.

Alexey Zyuzin illustrates the redundancy of documentation with a specific example, when a part is manufactured within one day, and supporting it with documentation takes a week.

“It’s one thing when this is done within the framework of R&D for the Ministry of Industry and Trade or the Ministry of Defense, in this case the volume of documentation should be as complete as possible so that any enterprise can master it. But why should I make such a package of documents for internal use?” – the publication’s interlocutor is perplexed.

Anatoly Rusin, in turn, added that the requirements of the governing documents greatly bureaucratized not only the manufacturing process, but also the legalization of the supply of products.

“There are cases when documents need to be coordinated with your direct competitors, and this is a conflict of business interests, which leads to a dead end and does not make it possible to supply manufactured products,” he noted.

Representatives of some enterprises have a different opinion. “The volume of technical documentation supplied with the product is determined by the customer of the ships and the construction plant. This volume is approximately the same for all suppliers,” noted Vitaly Makarov.

Some see the problem not in the volume of documents itself, but in the different requirements for equipment of designers and shipyards. “According to Russian GOSTs, the volume of spare parts for a product should be 10 boxes, and for foreigners – two gaskets and one fuse,” a source from a deck equipment manufacturing company told the publication.

Other industrialists are faced with a slow process of adding their enterprise to the list from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, confirming that the products were manufactured in Russia. Semyon Turitsyn reported that, despite the documents submitted in February, the enterprise received permission only in May. Moreover, according to the regulations, this procedure should take no more than 10 days. “A document confirming the domestic origin of products is issued for one year. In the summer, its validity period expired, because of this we lost one of our customers, who needed this document,” emphasized Semyon Turitsyn. In his opinion, it would be acceptable to issue a certificate for three years.

Other enterprises find themselves in this situation.

It's a shame to go abroad

Another reality that domestic industrialists talk about is a different approach to advance payments for Russian and foreign suppliers. Vitaly Makarov explained that delaying payments on special accounts within the framework of the state defense order is a common practice that cannot yet be influenced.

“With foreign suppliers, everything is quite clear: no money - no goods. If payment is delayed - you pay a penalty, so payments for import supplies are almost always made within the terms specified in the contract,” he noted.

Alexey Zyuzin echoes him, adding that most often the import supplier works with 100% prepayment. According to Anatoly Rusin, the advance payment for domestic companies rarely exceeds 50%. “Russian legislation does not apply to foreigners; no special accounts are valid for them. Our suppliers often need to raise borrowed funds, and this means bank interest, and, as a result, an additional burden on the enterprise,” he said.

Nikita Maksimov develops this idea, saying that domestic suppliers work on conditions that foreigners would never agree to. “Among them is the provision of design documentation before the advance payment, and sometimes even before the contract, and the supply of equipment on a post-payment basis up to 100%. In addition, domestic suppliers bear warranty obligations not from the delivery date, but from the date of delivery of the vessel to the customer - the gap between these events can be from two to five years,” he summarizes.

Another opinion was shared by Anton Ravlik, the general director of the Admiralty Shipyards supplier, Inmor LLC. “In terms of advance payments, I don’t see much difference. Sometimes they delay and don’t pay both ours and foreigners,” he believes.

Industrialists agree that official letters and requests to various regulatory authorities do not yield any results. “We contacted the Government of the Russian Federation, but the matter has not moved forward yet. It is clear that the process, even in the most positive scenario, is not fast,” notes Semyon Turitsyn.

“The prosecutor’s office and the FAS can control the situation and punish violators, but this does not help,” says Vitaly Makarov.

“Supervisory authorities monitor for the absence of violations. It is not their responsibility to act as an arbiter in disputes, and due to the extreme bureaucracy, it can take years to achieve the truth,” concludes Anatoly Rusin.

Western experience and political will

The publication's interlocutors agree that it is unlikely that the situation will change quickly. One of the ways is to conduct a qualifying selection process, when a large volume of documents is submitted only once, then everything goes according to additional agreements.

Anton Ravlik called this path probable and acceptable, proposing to turn to Western experience and remove the bureaucratic barriers of the military-industrial complex sector.

“This would be logical, if once the fact of using Russian components is approved, then why does each company need to certify it again in its products? It turns out that the same path is repeated for the same capacitor,” Alexey Zyuzin is perplexed.

At the same time, according to some industrialists, in addition to the “Groundhog Day” described above, recently it has become much more difficult to obtain permission to produce dual-use products. “It’s not easy, even with technical specifications, almost supply contracts, signed by the Ministry of Defense,” one of the interlocutors, who wished to remain anonymous, told the publication.

“The increase in the number of responsible ministries is directly proportional to the growth of the bureaucracy. If we establish certain regulations for working with domestic suppliers, including in terms of documentation, then the results of import substitution will not be long in coming,” says Semyon Turitsyn.

Sometimes design bureaus simply don’t know whether there is a domestic alternative to imports. According to industrialists, there is not enough a single list of Russian suppliers collected in one place. Within the framework of civilian products, this is carried out by the Central Research Institute "Kurs" under a government contract from the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The work of the institute is an electronic portal where data on each item of ship components is collected. The government contract also implies the creation of a center for import substitution and localization of ship components.

“Work on the portal began less than a year ago. Starting from scratch, we created a software product. Then we worked on the design, which also took a long time,” notes Dmitry Stoyanov, Deputy General Director for Civil Marine Engineering of the Kurs Central Research Institute.

Industrialists assessed the initiative to create the catalog positively, but admitted that the execution was not ideal. “Some information can be gleaned from there, but no more. Data is updated slowly, but such an information system, on the contrary, must be alive,” says Alexey Zyuzin. He added that so far the list of domestic suppliers is extremely scarce, and the mechanism for the appearance of enterprises on it is unclear to many in the industry. Stoyanov objects that it is too early to judge the effectiveness of the portal, since the actual formation of the list began only in September of this year and at the moment only 300-400 positions of domestic ship components are filled, which is approximately 2% of its total number.

“We work directly with enterprises and explain the need to collect such information in order to build on its basis state policy in terms of import substitution, using this data in shipbuilding contracts. Even now, enterprises can enter information about themselves, and it is updated online,” explains Dmitry Stoyanov.

According to the deputy director of the Central Research Institute "Kurs", new suppliers of ship equipment make their presence felt every day.

According to industry sources, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Defense are still thinking about how to reduce the “bureaucratic burden” on domestic producers.

The editors sent a journalistic request to the Ministry of Industry and Trade regarding specific measures that the department is working on to resolve the situation. Mil.Press Military publishes the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s response in full:

“The development and procurement of samples of weapons, military and special equipment (hereinafter referred to as samples of military equipment) is carried out by state customers at Russian defense industry enterprises. According to certain decisions of state customers, the use of imported components, components, assemblies, electronic modules, electronic components, and raw materials is allowed in the specified samples of military equipment and materials that belong to the category of elements of general industrial and cross-industry use.

At the same time, incoming controls are currently being strengthened for imported products. There is also a risk of non-delivery of imported products due to sanctions from NATO and EU countries - accordingly, the Russian Ministry of Defense imposes penalties on the contractors. It should be noted that the procedure for registering the use of imported components, assemblies, assemblies, electronic modules, electronic components, raw materials and materials in samples of military equipment is a lengthy process in terms of timing. In contrast to the used imported components, components, assemblies, electronic modules, electronic components, raw materials and materials, more stringent requirements for use are imposed on the developed domestic import-substituting products. The costs of defense industry enterprises for the development and production of domestic analogues of imported products are carried out both from the enterprises’ own funds and from the federal budget within the framework of the state defense industry enterprise.

In order to minimize dependence on the supply of imported products, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, together with state customers under the State Defense Order and defense industry enterprises, have formed plans for import substitution of foreign-made products. The most important thing for why we are switching to domestic products is the issue of national security, as well as improving the quality of manufactured military equipment.

In terms of carrying out work on import substitution of imported general industrial products, we are following the path of creating and developing competitive domestic products. In order to improve import substitution procedures, in pursuance of instructions from the President of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation is currently preparing draft regulations of the Government of the Russian Federation and departmental documents that clarify the procedure for applying and ensuring technological independence from the use of foreign components, electronic components, raw materials and materials in domestic samples of military equipment, including those at the design stage. The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade is also considering the issue of developing a system of alternative suppliers of components, components, assemblies, electronic modules, electronic components, raw materials and supplies,” the department noted.

One of the options for resolving the situation, according to the industrialists themselves, is a full audit of the industry and the creation of an interdepartmental commission.

“We need quite a lot of work so that the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, after listening to expert opinions, somehow ease the burden associated with the package of documents. We need to meet with a large interdepartmental commission and make an informed decision,” concluded the editorial source in the management of the company producing deck equipment.

The question is whether the two departments have enough political will to resolve this difficult issue. It would be logical if the work was initiated by Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko, appointed in 2018, who regularly visits defense enterprises and knows their problems first-hand.