Domestic product on imported machines

Despite the high potential for import substitution, Russian production is experiencing an acute shortage of domestic equipment comparable to imported quality. Thus, 65% of Russian enterprises have the potential to produce import-substituting products (25% high, 27% medium, 13% low), according to estimates by the Center for Market Research of the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge of the National Research University Higher School of Economics. Experts conducted a survey of more than 1,000 enterprises in 30 regions. The leaders in assessing the potential were drug manufacturers (50% have it high), machinery and equipment manufacturers (40%), electrical equipment manufacturers (35%), plastics (34%), cars (33%), textiles (32%), and also computers, electronic and optical products (30%). The ratings are worse for enterprises providing services in the field of mining (8%) and equipment repair (9%).

The majority of enterprises (87%) need new equipment, which is not inferior in quality to foreign analogues, now only a quarter of companies have it, more often in the field of oil and gas production (90%), in the chemical industry (35%), the minimum the same equipment with domestic equipment from manufacturers of clothing, furniture, medicines and cars. At the same time, 65% of industrial enterprises are dependent on the imported equipment used: 18% – to an extremely high degree, 47% – to a high degree. Coal mining (36%), as well as printing (40%), textiles (39%) and woodworking industries (35%) reported very high dependence.

In the short term, a mostly fragmentary refusal from imported equipment, components, technologies and raw materials in production is possible: about 60% of companies will be able to partially abandon them within a horizon of up to three years. Another 18% consider the refusal impossible, and less than 10% are confident in the possibility of a complete transition to domestic components.

The need for foreign equipment helps enterprises close parallel imports: 22% of enterprises purchase critical components in this way, while more than half of the companies consider the procedure complicated. Difficulties were more frequently reported by printing companies (80%), as well as manufacturers of computers, electronics and optics (72%), textiles (71%), vehicles (70%) and medicines (70%).

Diana Galieva