Hi-Tech and Russia: the crisis is not a hindrance to difficult relations

The IT industry is often referred to as the “oil of the 21st century” in economic journals. The countries that have taken the lead here will dictate global world politics to those who depend on high-tech developments. Without primacy in this area, economic sovereignty is impossible, the achievement of which the Russian authorities have proclaimed as the goal for the coming years. However, with the IT resource, unlike hydrocarbon raw materials, Russia has noticeable problems. What needs to be done in order to achieve the goals set by the government in this area, MK discussed with experts from the P.A. Stolypin.

Mind chamber, yes the key is lost

Only a lazy person has not complained about Russia’s problems in the IT sphere over the past six months. At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum held in June, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko sharply stated that our country had fallen into colonial “technological dependence on the West”, and did it voluntarily. Andrei Makarov, head of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes, recalled that Russia has repeatedly tried to catch up and overtake Western countries in the field of technology, but things are still there. As the parliamentarian pointed out, one of the latest technological modernization programs in our country took place from 2014 to 2021, but everyone can see the result. “What did we get? he asked. “They explain to us that everything has been done, everything is according to plan. But there were plans: we raised localization to 20-21%. I liked how they gave points for the fact that we had increased localization: they brought a machine from China, painted it – that’s localization.

At the same time, experts acknowledge that the conditions for the development of technological sovereignty in Russia are good. Thus, excellent scientific education has been preserved in our country, which is proved by the victories at international olympiads in physics, mathematics and computer science for students of specialized schools and students of domestic universities. There are both individual projects and entire high-tech companies that successfully compete in the international market. In the field of information security, Kaspersky Lab can be called a recognized leader, in the field of search engines and marketplaces, this is Yandex. There are recognized achievements in the field of energy, metallurgy, and heavy industry.

NEP will help everyone

However, despite some successful examples and the regular launch of government support programs, import substitution in the field of high technologies in Russia has not yet been implemented. “The mistake of the program is that its authors proceed from the possibility of their own replication of products already existing on the market, while not paying due attention to the technological basis itself,” Internet Ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev explains the reasons for the failure. “In other words, the essence of the program for officials was to replace some high-tech foreign product on the market with a product of their own production.” As a result, Russian entrepreneurs began to compete, who has the highest percentage of localization and who, on the basis of this, can be called a “domestic manufacturer”. “The state itself actually stimulated this fraud both among producers and among consumers,” the expert notes. And all amicably – someone out of misunderstanding, and someone just hiding – kept silent about what is the technological basis for the production of a particular product. In the field of high technologies, such a base is electronic engineering. This is what is at the junction of fundamental science and the transfer of knowledge to applied application, is associated with patents. This area cannot be turned into a business without the help and participation of the state.

According to Boris Titov, Commissioner under the President of the Russian Federation for the protection of the rights of entrepreneurs, in modern conditions it is better not to use the word “import substitution” at all, since it does not correspond to reality. This concept was born as a state policy implemented in the 60-70s by some Latin American countries. And now technology companies have to assess the markets and understand what kind of consumer they are doing something for. This is not import substitution: there is no goal to replace something that we bought before. Russia in this area should strive to go ahead, understand market trends and slightly outperform them, otherwise there is no chance to win. Our country needs the NEP, Titov is sure. “When everything is bad, business is called, and business once again saves the Russian economy,” he recalled.

It should be noted that the government soberly assesses the situation and is trying to create an approach adequate to the challenges of recent months. So, at a meeting held on July 25, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin distributed among the vice-premiers the responsibility for curating certain high-tech industries. Now Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov will be responsible for technological and nuclear supervision, development of the rocket and space industry, communication networks, electronic component base and quantum sensors. Dmitry Chernyshenko will focus on artificial intelligence, quantum computing, obtaining and processing nanomaterials, creating software for high-performance computing systems, etc.

Loans, taxes, subsidies – underline correctly

But the distribution of spheres of influence between vice-premiers is not enough. A plan to support specific businesses is needed. Curiously, experts disagree about which approach can lead to the real development of high technology in Russia. Some talk about the need for concessional lending, others about the inadmissibility of “forced assistance” to the industry and deforming the motivation of entrepreneurs who, instead of competing in the market, will fight for state subsidies. “The main barrier to the development of high-tech companies is the attraction of funding,” says Natalya Popova, public ombudsman in the field of protecting the rights of leading high-tech companies. “It was this topic that became one of the central ones at the last Council on Strategic Development and National Projects, which was held by the president.” The shortage of financial resources for high-tech companies is associated with delays in payments from large customers of innovative products and the need to replenish stocks of foreign components in the medium and long term. To overcome this barrier, a 3% lending program with a state-subsidized rate was created. Popova is sure that the larger high-tech business – post-SMEs – should receive similar soft loans. “In my opinion, the first thing to do is stop the forced assistance,” Dmitry Marinichev enters into an argument. — It has already begun to deform both the competitive market and the minds of entrepreneurs. Among them, competition for subsidies and state support has begun. Companies do not seek to receive income from their product, but return motivation from the state and the opportunity to capture a significant part of the market with its help. This is a dangerous trend and it can negate all the efforts of the state to stimulate the development of high technologies, the Internet Ombudsman believes.

The experts of the Stolypin Institute analyzed and took into account the strengths of these positions in the NEP 2.0 development program. As a result, they proposed not just to engage in preferential lending, but to provide reimbursement of expenses to enterprises engaged in export and import-substituting production in the amount of 90% of the costs incurred for R&D and 50% of the costs of technological preparation of production in the form of budget subsidies or a corresponding reduction in tax payments on tax income and other taxes. Such an approach will help maintain healthy competition among entrepreneurs and at the same time satisfy the key needs of high-tech business, the Institute stressed.