Putin decided to transfer officials to domestic cars: “It’s okay”

Vladimir Putin announced a campaign to transfer officials to domestic cars. At a meeting with the heads of enterprises, the president said that the request of ministries and departments to extend the opportunity to purchase foreign cars would remain unanswered: “our wonderful bureaucracy”, in his opinion, should support Russian brands.

However, the products of the automotive industry still have significant flaws for consumers: German Gref could not start the car right away, and Valentina Matvienko was surprised at the lack of an automatic transmission in it. However, problems are already being solved with the help of the Chinese.

On Thursday, Vladimir Putin was scheduled to meet with the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov. However, the president suddenly decided to expand the list of participants: at his request, representatives of industrial enterprises flocked to the Kremlin.

“I want you to listen to the report of Denis Valentinovich and catch him if he tells something incorrectly. This is the meaning of our meeting,” VVP said.

The conversation first turned to the general indicators of the development of the manufacturing industry, which is growing at a faster pace this year – especially the sectors related to the military-industrial complex. The production of optical and electronic products increased by 30.4%, the production of finished metallurgical products – by 29.7%, electrical equipment – by 22%, and so on.

“On average, in the first half of the year, the manufacturing industry grew by 6.2%, right?” – said Putin. “So,” Manturov confirmed. And, since no one from those present began to argue with this, the president delivered his verdict: “This is a good result.”

Other indicators also inspire optimism – employment remains at the level of 2021, and the average salary in nominal terms has grown to almost 70 thousand rubles. And with these estimates, too, no one began to argue.

The director of a shoe company from the Tambov region, Svetlana Andrianova, confirmed the words of Denis Manturov that leather products and clothing are also in a “noticeable plus”. The capacity of the factory and the number of employees, according to her, have doubled over the past year, and wages have increased by as much as 75%. And people are still missing! They would take 200-300 people! Andrianova did not name her product range, but it can be easily found on the site – these are berets and other special-purpose shoes, mainly for law enforcement agencies. It’s really in high demand right now.

Other participants of the meeting also spoke about work for the defense industry – in particular, shipbuilders (according to their estimates, the output of military products at the enterprise has tripled) and manufacturers of agricultural equipment. “No matter where we start, we still end up with a Kalashnikov assault rifle,” Vladimir Putin commented with a smile.

According to the president, the defense industry and related industries provide two-thirds of the demand in the manufacturing industry. However, according to manufacturers themselves, the state defense order at their enterprises reaches 80% or more. And the production of civilian products is hampered by the problems of the domestic market. For example, the production and sale of agricultural machinery this year collapsed by 20-25%. On the one hand, the reason is a noticeable rise in the cost of domestic units. On the other hand, the decline in demand was affected by the income of farmers who cannot earn on a record harvest. “Grain prices today are lower than last year,” Manturov said.

In addition to the production of agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals, the automotive industry and woodworking were in the “negative zone”. The head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade explained that last year, taking into account the covid and post-covid period, a “high base” developed in the pharmaceutical industry. And now, in relation to it, the indicators have gone into the negative. “These are just aggregate figures,” he reassured the president. In woodworking, the main problem, according to him, is related to logistics. Previously, products were transported to the West, but now the flows are being reorganized into friendly countries.

“This is not only the East, this is Latin America and Africa,” Manturov said, noting that “additional orders from our friends” were received at the summit with the Africans, and the picture will soon improve.

The minister described the situation in the automotive industry with the words “certain revival.” Compared to June last year, when the conveyors practically did not work, in June 2023 production increased by 52% to 42 thousand pieces. But when compared with the period before the NWO, the failure becomes obvious. In 2021, 114,000 vehicles were produced this month. And in 2019 – 127 thousand.

Vladimir Putin believes that the development of the automotive industry should be promoted through public procurement. “All officials of the country must drive domestic cars. Somewhere it will be more modest than before, that’s okay. On the contrary, it’s even good,” the president said.

In 2020, the government has already introduced a complete ban on public procurement of cars not made in Russia. Now, apparently, foreign cars (Chinese) produced at domestic facilities will also be banned. However, domestic brands, as you know, are also licensed copies of Chinese cars or are assembled from Chinese components. But at the same time they cost 1.5-2 times more.