Subsidies are switched – Newspaper Kommersant No. 204 (7405) dated 11/02/2022
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The Ministry of Digital Development has developed a new mechanism to support Russian manufacturers of telecom equipment, printers and modems through subsidizing the rate on loans for the purchase of electronic component base (ECB), primarily foreign. This, according to Kommersant, will require 1 billion rubles. in year. A similar mechanism, but for vendors of computer technology, was launched in the spring. It allowed them to stabilize supply chains and build up a stock of components. Experts consider the mechanism timely, but emphasize that it will not speed up the development of Russian components.
Kommersant got acquainted with the draft government decree, developed by the Ministry of Digital Development and submitted for public discussion on the regulation.gov.ru portal in October. It follows from the document that the ministry wants to launch a preferential lending mechanism for Russian manufacturers of printers, scanners, modems, mobile and fixed phones, smartphones and telecom equipment.
We are talking about amendments to government decree No. 407, which was adopted in March. In the current version, it assumes that manufacturers of computer equipment (computers, laptops, servers, data storage systems, etc.) can receive loans from 13 banks (VTB, Sberbank, Promsvyazbank, etc.) at a rate of 1–5% per annum for replenishment of warehouse stocks of electronic components for this equipment. The Ministry of Digital Finance compensates banks for the shortfall in income on loans through subsidies. The minimum loan amount is 3 billion rubles, and the maximum is 100 billion rubles.
According to a top manager of a Russian server manufacturer, the measure “was taken urgently to give leverage to Russian computer manufacturers to continue working with distributors, who began to demand 100% prepayment against the backdrop of sanctions.” This made it possible to stabilize the import of electronic components and quickly fill the warehouses with components, the interlocutor of Kommersant explains. A source close to the government says that about 5 billion rubles are needed for subsidies on loans from the Ministry of Digital Development. in year. Expansion of the mechanism to manufacturers of telecom equipment and other equipment will require about another 1 billion rubles. in year.
The draft resolution has not yet been approved by the Ministry of Finance. In the Ministry of Finance, Kommersant’s questions were forwarded to the Ministry of Economy, where they only reported that “the document has been submitted for consideration.” The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that they participated in the development of the project and support the initiative. The ministry did not respond to a request.
In the Russian Federation, there are actually no manufacturers of specialized microcircuits for telecom equipment, notes the head of Zelax (a Russian manufacturer of telecom equipment) Sergey Sukhman: “If we talk about a low-level electronic component base, then perhaps there are Russian batteries, resistors and capacitors, but high-tech components are definitely imports.” So, switching matrices, which are used by Russian equipment manufacturers, are produced by only three companies: the American Marvell and Broadcom and the Chinese Centec, adds a Kommersant source in the Russian electronics market.
Broadcom and Marvell have made no explicit announcements regarding military action in Ukraine. At the same time, Marvell in its report for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 noted that sales of its products in the Russian Federation and Ukraine are limited in volume. Broadcom only indicated in its Q1 report that “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine” could increase the risk of cyber attacks. Marvell and Broadcom stopped official deliveries back in the spring, there are also difficulties with the import of components from Centec, Kommersant’s interlocutors in the core market say: “Now Russian companies are importing electronic components using unauthorized channels.”
Executive Director of the Association of Russian Developers and Manufacturers of Electronics (ARPE) Ivan Pokrovsky calls the initiative of the Ministry of Digital Development timely, since now all component suppliers, not only foreign, but also Russian, have switched to 100% prepayment, which leads to a shortage of working capital to create the necessary warehouse reserves: “This measure is aimed at ensuring the sustainability of production, but investment support measures are also required for the introduction of Russian developments.”
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