Vladislav Ovchinsky: “Industry does not want “free” money from the state, it needs guaranteed demand”

Until February 2022, it seemed to everyone that the most serious challenge for the Russian industry was the COVID-19 pandemic. But as it turns out, there is a more terrible threat, for example, the sanctions of the “collective West”, which hit the country as if from abundance. Was Moscow ready for such a challenge? Has the industry done well? To these other questions during the public talk “Moscow Industry: To Be or Not To Be?” answered Vladislav Ovchinsky, Head of the Department of Investment and Industrial Policy of the capital.

According to Ovchinsky, although no one on the market could expect sanctions at the beginning of 2022, the capital’s industrialists overcame all difficulties with dignity.

“We are growing steadily, creating new industries. And we go in parallel with the already “unfriendly” partners, – he continued. – Previously, it was easier and more profitable for us to buy goods in other countries. But now we have supported our manufacturers and they were able to saturate the market with a sufficient amount of goods.”

As Vladislav Ovchinsky noted, today high-tech industries are among the most vulnerable in terms of marginality, while manufacturers do not ask for support in the form of grants or subsidies – they need more guarantees of long-term demand.

“We tried to create that same long-term demand through offset contracts. They give a guarantee for seven to ten years that the city will purchase certain products from an investor who has built from scratch or modernized production. Just this week, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin opened a huge pharmaceutical plant in Zelenograd. It will supply the city with only twenty percent of its output, and the rest – to the market. What have we done by doing so? They guaranteed break-even for the enterprise, and they themselves are calm about the quality of medicines that get to our residents, ”said Ovchinsky.

He added that 12 offset contracts have already been concluded in the city for the supply of medical devices, medicines, products for dairy kitchens and other goods.