The Ministry of Industry and Trade checks the fulfillment of the conditions for the allocation of subsidies in electronics
Russian developers and manufacturers of electronics spoke about unscheduled inspections by the Prosecutor General’s Office together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, within the framework of which compliance with the requirements for allocated subsidies is assessed. According to Kommersant, according to preliminary estimates, half of the companies that received state support did not fulfill its conditions: in particular, they produced electronics not in Russia, but in contract manufacturing, including in China. If violations are detected, the authorities may demand that the allocated funds be returned to the budget, and top managers of companies may face criminal prosecution.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade, together with the Prosecutor General's Office, is conducting unscheduled inspections of the effectiveness of state support measures for developers and manufacturers of radio electronics due to cases of unfair use of subsidies, sources in the industry told Kommersant. According to them, in September, companies began receiving letters from local prosecutors demanding to provide data on the implementation of civil electronics projects with government participation. “Kommersant” got acquainted with one of these letters from the prosecutor’s office of the city of Essentuki. It requires, by September 24, to provide data on the implementation of projects in the field of civil radio electronics, as well as information on government programs and completed activities. The regional prosecutor's office confirmed to Kommersant that inspections of radio-electronic developers are underway throughout the Stavropol Territory. However, by what order exactly was not explained.
According to preliminary results of inspections, more than half of the manufacturers and developers of electronics did not fulfill their obligations within the framework of state support - in particular, instead of production in the Russian Federation, they gave orders for contract production, including to China, Kommersant’s sources in the industry tell. “Thus, foreign factories and domestic brand owners were actually financed,” explains an industry source. According to him, for this reason it is planned to review state support measures in electronics. The source adds that the Prosecutor General's Office is also conducting additional checks regarding the abuse of state support funds, which may lead to criminal cases against the heads of organizations. According to him, we are talking about 966 billion rubles allocated over five years in the form of benefits, subsidies and grants for development.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade regularly checks throughout the year the implementation of activities for which subsidies are allocated, the press service of the ministry told Kommersant. They noted that the Ministry of Industry and Trade “constantly monitors the effectiveness of the mechanism for issuing subsidies and works to optimize it.” Cumulatively, during the implementation of support measures under Resolution 109 (on the procedure for allocating subsidies for the development and production of electronic components), since 2016, a total of subsidy agreements have been concluded in the amount of 139 billion rubles. At the same time, the amount of revenue within the framework of complex projects exceeded 68 billion rubles, they say in the Ministry of Industry and Trade. “For all measures in the civilian market, we can talk about support of more than 400 billion rubles. and enterprise revenues of more than 90 billion rubles. At the same time, the share of projects for which criminal cases are initiated based on the results of inspections is at a low level,” the ministry’s press service adds.
The general director of the electronics manufacturer Beshtau, Oleg Osipov, confirmed to Kommersant that he had received letters from the prosecutor’s office asking for data on the implementation of government subsidies. “We have already sent a response to the prosecutor’s office,” he added. Mr. Osipov believes that next year the budget for subsidies for radio electronics will be reduced, so with the help of verification it is possible to optimize costs by excluding unscrupulous organizations from them.
The general director of Promobit (produces computer equipment under the Bitblaze brand) Maxim Koposov also knows about the inspections of the prosecutor’s office. According to him, the register of the Ministry of Industry and Trade still contains equipment that was developed using the state budget, but was produced in violation of the terms of the subsidies. “In addition to the company’s dishonest actions, this is due to the vagueness of the term “localization”; it is impossible to establish equality between products manufactured according to documentation purchased abroad and developed in Russia,” he says. Mr. Koposov at the same time notes that sanctions in the form of a one-time return of the subsidy can lead to the bankruptcy of supported companies and the loss of developed competencies.
The Association of Electronics Developers and Manufacturers (ARPE, includes Rezonit, Kremniy-El, T1, etc.) on September 30 on its website expressed concern about the practice of imprisoning IT entrepreneurs in connection with the “theft of state subsidies.” As an example, the cases of Sergei Sorokin and Ilya Chipashvili from the Dolomant company are cited (accused of stealing 160 million rubles from subsidies of the Ministry of Industry and Trade; see Kommersant of December 18, 2023). “If violations are widespread, then the problem is in the system of state support and management, and not in individual companies,” ARPE believes.
