Productivity for export – Newspaper Kommersant No. 30 (7475) dated February 17, 2023

The Ministry of Economy proposed to extend the Russian experience of the national project to increase labor productivity to enterprises of the EAEU countries and is ready to advise Eurasian colleagues on the introduction of lean production practices without significant investments. Now the factor of “cheap labor” of migrants from the countries of the Union has a noticeable impact on the Russian economy – due to the availability of such a resource, enterprises often do not want to invest in technologies and capacities, but prefer to expand their staff. Specific steps to disseminate Russian practices will be discussed at the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC).

The head of the Ministry of Economy Maxim Reshetnikov, at a seminar of the EAEU countries on increasing labor productivity, proposed to disseminate Russian experience in this area in the Eurasian space. Recall that in the Russian Federation, increasing productivity is the subject of a separate national project and is carried out through the introduction of lean manufacturing practices and optimization of internal processes without large financial investments. For five years, 4.5 thousand companies (with 1.5 million employees) have become participants in the national project – in the manufacturing industry, agro-industrial complex, construction, transport and trade. Their productivity and wages are growing faster than the average. Their revenues increased by 61 billion rubles, which is four times more than the state’s costs for the national project, and the total contribution of project participants to GDP growth exceeded 400 billion rubles.

Maxim Reshetnikov at the seminar spoke about the difference in labor productivity: in the Russian Federation, according to 2020 data, it was $33 per hour per person, and in a number of other unnamed EAEU countries, $24 per hour. At the same time, for the world’s leading economies, the figure approaches $100 per hour per person.

Colleagues in the EAEU showed interest in the experience of the Russian Federation. In Belarus, the growth of labor productivity is provided mainly by increasing the technological level and the dynamics of investment. “And only 15% of the growth is due to the improvement of the organization of production, labor, management,” admitted the Minister of Economy of this country, Alexander Chervyakov. Minister for Economy and Financial Policy of the Eurasian Economic Commission Bakytzhan Sagintayev proposed to hold a session on labor productivity within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Forum. Specific steps to scale up the Russian practice will still be discussed at the EEC site.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Economy is ready to provide consulting support in the creation of competence centers that work directly with companies, helping to multiply output. “We are ready to open free access to the platforms of the national project, which contains best practices and “boxed” solutions on lean manufacturing tools, industry research, IT solutions from trusted suppliers. The latter is especially relevant for those companies that do not have their own digitalization specialists on staff,” Maxim Reshetnikov added.

The interest of the Russian Federation in productivity growth in the EAEU space is explained by the common labor market and the need for import substitution, including by the forces of Eurasian suppliers. As Sergey Glazyev, EEC Minister for Integration and Macroeconomics, explained, the Russian economy is “addicted to the massive cheap labor of migrants”, and enterprises have no motivation to invest in production, increase capacity and introduce new technologies: it is easier to hire new employees. Increasing labor productivity through internal optimization can free up funds that can be used to increase output.

Diana Galieva