Quality and import substitution. Import substitution in Russia: list of goods, program, results. Import substitution for certain product categories
The crisis is the best time for changes in economic strategy ... Energy is no longer Russia's main source of income. It is necessary to develop domestic production, especially in industries traditionally dependent on imports. For example, the share of imports in Russian mechanical engineering(especially machine-tool industry) reaches 60-80%, in oil and gas equipment - up to 70%, pharmaceuticals - up to 70-80%, and in the electronic and light industry it reaches 90%. Unfortunately, it is impossible to quickly solve this problem: import substitution is a long and complicated process. However, the first signs of future changes have already appeared.
We present to your attention five of the best examples of import substitution in Russia in 2014-2015.
5. Oil and gas industry and oil engineering
One of the new projects of Rosneft is the new production complex Zvezda, which is engaged in the creation of a shipbuilding base. Russian Factoring Company, together with Surgutneftegaz, is engaged in the construction of hydraulic fracturing equipment. Uralmash is developing a drive system for drilling rigs. Perm Engineering Company is testing a new complex of a rotary controlled system.
Responsibly, OJSC Gazprom approached the need for import substitution: it imposed a ban on the purchase of foreign equipment for all of its divisions. In addition, the company has created a register of imported equipment used so that any engineering company wishing to develop new market, knew what there was a request for. OAO Gazprom is ready to test test samples live and, in case of a successful result, immediately purchase them.
4. Agricultural engineering
The Tractor Plants Concern has invested 700 million rubles in the creation of wheeled tractors with an automatic control system. The potential demand for such tractors by 2020 is about 160 units. It is planned that the profit by this time will amount to 1.2 billion rubles.
3. Military industry
The import substitution rating includes a program for the development of strategic nuclear forces, which refused to participate in manufacturers from Ukraine. Now the Topol-M, Yars and Bulava missile systems are made entirely of components domestic production... The new Sarmat missile has already gone into production. There also appeared its own air-to-air missiles, and the powerful one began to receive the Moscow-1 electronic warfare systems, created using the latest technology.
2. Software
Companies "1C" and Acronis are engaged in the production of software and successfully withstand long-term competition with foreign manufacturers. ERP-system "1C: Enterprise" successfully competes with Microsoft, SAP and Oracle. At present, the 1C company has 30% Russian market ERP in the money. 1C has more installations in the Russian Federation than SAP worldwide.
1. Agricultural and dairy products
Import substitution contributes to an increase in the share of domestic production - especially in such industries as pig breeding, poultry farming, production of cheese, butter and partly herring. According to the mayor of Moscow, 90% of the dairy market in the city is already occupied by domestic products.
But, unfortunately, many manufacturers in pursuit of a long ruble fill store shelves with counterfeit products. For example, according to Rosstat, the import of palm oil and its derivatives to Russia has grown to 260 thousand tons; it is used for the production of cheap and low-grade dairy products.
The best example of import substitution in the market, which uses only domestic raw materials in production - Lianozovsky Dairy Plant. Recently, the plant launched a new workshop, which began to process whey obtained in the process of making dairy products into dry whey (it is used in the bakery, confectionery and meat industries). 7.5 million euros were invested in the workshop, of which about a third was invested in Russian-made equipment. The plant also opened new line packaging and invested 21 million in the production of containers for milk filling.
The problem of import substitution, that is, the replacement of foreign-made goods on the Russian market with domestic ones, is not new and is periodically raised, including by the country's leadership. First of all, import substitution is associated with the solution of one of the main tasks of the Russian economy - its diversification. However, the authorities made an attempt to develop a coherent policy only after the imposition of sanctions. So, the need to overcome the critical dependence on foreign technologies and industrial products was discussed in the message of the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly at the end of 2014. Use the situation that is emerging due to the sanctions to reach new frontiers of development President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin also called on during the "direct line" in April this year.
Currently, according to government estimates, the share of imports in various sectors of the economy is extremely high. For example, Russia imports more than 80% of components in civil aircraft construction, in heavy engineering - about 70%, in oil and gas equipment - 60%, in power equipment - about 50%, in agricultural engineering, depending on the product category - from 50% to 90%. parts, etc.
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There is a popular opinion that the difficult moments for the Russian economy, associated with a decrease in foreign demand for raw materials supplied by Russia and the natural devaluation of the ruble, are a kind of window of opportunity for the development of domestic industry and deepening import substitution. However, despite a number of "successful" moments in this sense - for example, the crises of 1998 and 2008, the state did not take full advantage of them. This issue is periodically raised at various levels. So, in 2011 Dmitry Medvedev, who at that time held the post of President of the Russian Federation, at a meeting with representatives of small businesses in the Penza region spoke about the ineffectiveness of the import substitution program that was in force at that time.
OPINION
Vladislav Korochkin, Vice President of the All-Russian Public Organization for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses OPORA RUSSIA:
"The plans for the implementation of import substitution in Russia will be able to come true if the price of domestic products is competitive. To a certain extent, this was facilitated by the devaluation of the ruble that occurred at the end of last year: domestic products have significantly fallen in price compared to similar ones produced abroad. However, the devaluation works for import substitution. It is necessary to make the most active use of other mechanisms to reduce the cost of production, such as reducing non-production, administrative costs (excessive requirements for business when receiving government services, mandatory payments, etc.) and increasing competition in the domestic market. , the manufacturers themselves, before proceeding directly to production, must adequately analyze the market (not only domestic, but also global, if we want to truly develop the industry), in order for the products to find their buyer and take over a certain niche without the use of administrative levers. "
From words to deeds - a whole mile
Within the framework of the course for import substitution announced by the country's leadership, the first acts have already been adopted. In April 2014, the Cabinet of Ministers approved new edition the state program of the Russian Federation "Development of industry and increasing its competitiveness" (). One of the main tasks of the state program, calculated until 2020, is to reduce the share of imports of products, including those used by domestic producers, into our country.
A month later, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a list of instructions on additional incentive measures economic growth, including import substitution in industry and agriculture... In pursuance of the instructions of the President, the government prepared a Plan for Promoting Import Substitution in Industry. At the end of 2014, the import substitution program in agriculture was approved ().
Financial assistance to import substitution
The allocation of funds to support import substitution takes place in the form of subsidies and co-financing of research, as well as the provision of grants and preferences in public procurement.
So, in the fall of 2014, the government adopted a program to support investment projects implemented in Russia on the basis of project financing (). This program was developed with the aim of increasing the volume of lending to organizations in the real sector of the economy for long-term and preferential terms.
Within the framework of the program, only projects selected as a result of a competition, implemented until 2018 in certain sectors of the economy, are financed:
- Agriculture;
- manufacturing industry;
- chemical production;
- mechanical engineering;
- housing construction;
- transport;
- communications and telecommunications;
- energy.
In accordance with the terms of the program, state financial support is received by investment projects worth from 1 billion to 20 billion rubles. The borrower will have to pay at least 20% of the project cost himself. The borrower is provided with a targeted loan by an authorized bank in rubles at 9% per year. Moreover, the funds spent by banks to provide loans will be reimbursed by the Bank of Russia. At the moment, 10 Russian have been selected to participate in the program. credit institutions and international financial institutions- a list of them can be found on the official website of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia. The interest rate on a loan is calculated according to the following formula: 6.5% - the rate of refinancing loans for investment projects determined by the Bank of Russia () + 2.5%. The first component can subsequently be set in a different amount, which means that the conditions for financing entrepreneurs may change.
An important condition of the program is the requirement to locate the production site of the ongoing project on the territory of Russia.
It also provides for the provision of state guarantees for loans issued under the program. Guarantees are given for loans issued for a period of three to 20 years, in the amount of up to 25% of the borrower's obligations. The total amount of funds allocated for these purposes in the current year is 60 billion rubles (clause 8 of Section 1.1 of Appendix 39 to Federal Law No. 384-FZ of December 1 "").
The list of selected investment projects has already included:
A similar measure of financial support for import substitution was the allocation by the government, at the expense of federal budget targeted loans to enterprises implementing import substitution projects. Since August 2014, the Industrial Development Fund has been operating, whose tasks include financing projects at the pre-production stage. True, its budget is not that large: 20 billion rubles, despite the fact that, according to the fund, from January to April 2015, more than 800 applications were received for a total amount of about 280 billion rubles. from different companies... The fund provides industrial enterprises with loans for a period of five to seven years at a rate of 5% per annum. Borrowing companies must meet a number of requirements:
- have a positive credit history;
- loan amount must be secured net assets the applicant or provided security, for example, a bank guarantee;
- the funded project should be aimed at the introduction of advanced technologies, the creation of new products or the organization of import-substituting industries.
A loan from the fund will not be able to receive foreign companies, and companies with an offshore "registration", with the exception of companies that have received the status of a national producer and have concluded a special investment contract.
New for Russian law the concept of "special investment contract" contains the Federal Law "On industrial policy in the Russian Federation "(). Such a contract is a form of cooperation between investors and the state wishing to create, modernize or master the production of certain industrial products in Russia. tax incentives and privileges in the payment of customs duties, as well as guarantees against adverse changes in the current legislation during the term of the contract.
It is still impossible to assess the real effect of such a partnership, since the relevant norms will take effect only from July 1, 2015. However, there is reason to believe that investing relations between the producer and the state in a similar form will give b about greater confidence in the success of such projects than, for example, public-private partnership due to the creation of conditions for the stability of legal regulation.
At the same time, the list of instruments for supporting projects in the field of import substitution is planned to be expanded. According to Arkady Dvorkovich, their full complex will be developed by July 1 of this year. So, at the end of May, the government decided to submit for consideration to the State Duma a proposal to reduce tax burden for newly created enterprises for the production of goods (order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 22, 2015 No. 926-r). The bill proposes to provide the constituent entities of the Russian Federation with the right to reduce taxes for participants in regional investment projects by reducing the corporate income tax to 10% in terms of the tax that goes to the regional budget, and to 0% in terms of the tax that goes to the federal budget.
In addition to direct support of enterprises, it is planned to introduce special measures stimulating import substitution, including through state and municipal purchases. Thus, the government actively uses the right to restrict purchases of goods originating from foreign countries.
The purchases of certain types of foreign-made goods, such as medical products, mechanical engineering and light industry goods, as well as goods purchased for the purposes of the country's defense are limited (,).
The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia has high hopes for standardization as an instrument of import substitution in public procurement. Corresponding amendments to the legislation on the contract system are pending in the State Duma. It is planned to clarify the rules for describing the procurement object in such a way that when they are implemented, priority is given to products that meet national standards.
Real-time import substitution
In pursuance of the January anti-crisis plan() in April of this year, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Energy of Russia developed 19 sectoral import substitution programs for the coming years. Within the framework of the prepared programs, events are planned in such industries as:
- pharmaceutical industry ();
- heavy engineering ();
- software ()
- aircraft construction ();
- shipbuilding (), etc.
As the deputy chairman of the government said at a briefing following a government meeting in early April this year Arkady Dvorkovich, within the framework of these programs, it is planned to implement a total of about 2.5 thousand projects. The Director of the Department for Promotion of Investments and Innovations of the RF CCI adds that the implementation of these programs will allow even the most sensitive sectors, for example, machine-tool building, to reduce import dependence from the current 88% to 40% by 2020. The implementation of these measures will require 159 billion rubles. budget funds... However, it is planned that in the 20-year perspective this will serve to attract revenues to the budget in the amount of up to 2.2 trillion rubles. (an increase of 13.6 times).
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Interpretation of legal or economic term can be found in the GARANT system. To do this, you need to call the tab with the list of terms in the explanatory dictionary (F12) and enter the appropriate query, for example, "import substitution". For a term encountered while reading a document, you can call the dictionary by selecting the desired fragment (or by hovering over a separate word) and calling the command "Find in Explanatory dictionary"by clicking the right mouse button.
Complains about the shortcomings of legal regulation of the import substitution policy in the pharmaceutical industry CEO Association of Russian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Victor Dmitriev... At the same time, he emphasizes, the domestic pharmaceutical industry has actually been working in this direction for many years, reproducing copies of original medicines. So, any so-called generic (reproduced drug) is a repetition of the original drug, usually of imported origin. therefore, import substitution for pharmaceuticals, according to the expert, is a daily routine work and there are no fundamental novelties in this matter. At the same time, Viktor Dmitriev notes a problem similar to that in the software market: the organization of drug production in itself is not as difficult as bringing the created drug to the market. Back in September last year, the government posted for public discussion a draft resolution, which the industry calls "the third - superfluous": on limiting the participation of suppliers of imported drugs in budget tenders if there are two or more participants offering domestic drugs. However, further than the project, the matter has not progressed so far.
In addition, according to Viktor Dmitriev, the existing registration procedures require revision. For example, despite the fact that there is no need to register pharmaceutical substances, the law requires them to be included in State Register medicines (clause 2, part 1, article 33 Federal law dated April 12, 2010 No. 61-FZ ""), which is actually a repetition of the registration procedure. Therefore, Russian drug manufacturers lose to foreign competitors who enter the market with a ready-made drug and are not required to enter the substance in its composition into the register.
The Russian software development industry is rightfully considered one of the fastest growing sectors of the domestic economy. A number of Russian software products are consistently in demand not only in neighboring countries, but also in the global market. This is also the merit of the state. So, since 2011, software developers pay insurance premiums in a reduced amount (, Federal Law of July 24, 2009 No. 212-FZ "On insurance premiums in Pension Fund Russian Federation, Fund social insurance Russian Federation, Federal Obligatory Fund health insurance").
Almost a year later, the corresponding draft laws and regulations were prepared. In general, it is planned to reduce dependence on foreign software by making the state order market more accessible for domestic companies. The proposed projects imply the maximum limitation of the ability to purchase foreign software, except in cases where there are no domestic analogues of the necessary programs, or if the available one does not meet the customer's requirements. In this case, customers will have to justify their choice in favor of foreign software in order to Russian developers were informed about the needs of the market. At the same time, it is supposed to recognize the software as domestic if it was entered by the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia in the corresponding register.
The editorial staff of the GARANT.RU portal failed to get comments on the implementation of import substitution programs from representatives of the aviation and shipbuilding industries.
Rates without quality are not rates, but a profanation
At the end of April, by order of the government, the Autonomous non-profit organization "Russian system quality "(). Member of the interdepartmental working group on the creation of the Russian quality system Elena Saratseva explained to the portal GARANT.RU, the Russian quality system is being created in order to promote to the domestic and foreign markets Russian goods high quality, as well as increasing confidence in Russian products. The Cabinet of Ministers on its official website notes that, among other things, the Russian quality system should serve to solve the problem of import substitution. Apart from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, Rosstandart, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, the All-Russian public organization of small and medium-sized businesses OPORA RUSSIA and other public and scientific organizations and associations worked on the creation of ANO Roskachestvo.
It is planned that goods for testing in laboratories accredited by ANO "Roskachestvo" will be purchased at points retail sales on Russian territory. The test results will be published in the public domain on the official website of Roskachestvo.
Products that have successfully passed the voluntary certification procedure will be awarded the Russian Quality Mark. At the same time, certification of products for obtaining will be completely free for manufacturers. The right to label products with the Quality Seal will be issued for a period of two or three years (depending on the product category), after which the product can again undergo voluntary certification by Roskachestvo. Moreover, in case of receipt of complaints from the population about the quality of products that have received the Russian Quality Mark, unscheduled inspections of these products will be carried out. If the information on non-compliance with the quality or localization requirements is confirmed, then the right to use the Quality Mark for such a product will be revoked.
The organization is funded from the federal budget, adds Elena Saratseva, which ensures the independence of research and certification. This year Roskachestvo will conduct rolling research of products in 30 categories. Each study sample will include b about Most of the products presented in each category (up to 50 samples). It is assumed that the first Quality Marks will be awarded this year.
Protective measures: back side medals
At the same time, protective measures, despite their obvious benefits for domestic producers, can also carry hidden threats to the economy. For example, the embargo on the import of food products into our country from countries that supported anti-Russian sanctions has significantly reduced the competition between Russian farmers and foreign producers in the food market. At first glance, it may seem that such foreign policy measures have played exclusively into the hands of domestic agricultural producers. However, the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, in its report published in October 2014, expresses concerns about a possible acceleration of inflation if Russia fails to fully replace the import of food and raw materials that have come under the embargo. And the speed of filling the resulting deficit, the department emphasizes, is limited by the capabilities of the existing production facilities.
Again, some food products are manufactured using imported raw materials, which producers have no longer had access to. Sergey Fakhretdinov, member of the coordinating council of the All-Russian public organization " Business Russia", member Public Chamber RF, adds that the problem of a shortage of raw materials, indispensable for the production of domestic products, is also acute in high-tech industries. So, according to him, the Russian petrochemical industry, whose products are used by almost all industries, lags far behind the advanced countries. Replenishing the shortage of chemical raw materials from internal resources will require significant efforts and time.
***
It can be stated that a global campaign has been launched in Russia to meet domestic demand by domestic producers. At the same time, experts talk about the need to make this process more systematic. Thus, according to Vladislav Korochkin, First Vice-President of the All-Russian Public Organization of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses OPORA RUSSIA, it is necessary to create a set of permanent mechanisms that would allow setting specific tasks and introduce tools to track their implementation, otherwise the process of import substitution will again take chaotic nature.
In addition, a natural question arises: what scenario will the process follow? Will the final of this large-scale work be the creation of a product - an analogue of a foreign one, or will we go further and in a number of areas will be able to compete for existing foreign markets? The plans of the country's leadership in this regard can be judged by a number of statements. So, Vladimir Putin at the XVIII St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in May last year separately emphasized the need to approach import substitution selectively, to implement it only in those areas where it is promising, where domestic products will be competitive. The same idea was developed by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during his annual report to the State Duma in April this year, adding that import substitution will not lead to economic self-isolation of Russia. However, time will show how the economy will develop in reality.
The main law for economic growth in the country is the excess of exports over imports of goods. The promotion of import substitution has been used by many countries, and this policy is currently being practiced.
Import substitution is the process of replacing imported goods with domestic ones.
To implement the import substitution program, the government of the country can use several methods that are used both individually and in combination:
- tariff methods - imply an increase in duties on imported goods;
- non-tariff methods, within which they establish quotas or introduce the need to obtain certain licenses for the import of goods;
- stimulating the production of goods on the territory of the state itself.
Many countries moved by import substitution, and their experience testifies to both positive aspects import substitution and negative ones.
Here is a comparative description of import substitution in Table 1.
Table 1
Positive aspects of import substitution | Negative sides of import substitution |
Growth in employment in the context of development own production; | The efficiency of national companies decreases as a result of softening competition; |
Enhancement economic security countries; | With small volumes of the domestic market, restricting imports will lead to an increase in production costs |
Raising the level of education if necessary to develop innovative industries for the country. | Substitution of high-tech products is difficult with insufficient development of their products. |
Import substitution problems in Russia
In 2014, the Russian government set a course for import substitution. Stimulation of domestic producers was chosen as the main method of its implementation.
The need for import substitution in the domestic economy is long overdue. For a long time, the Russian economy has been exclusively focused on raw materials, which has led to dependence on imports in industry, trade and other sectors.
According to the Government of the Russian Federation, the share of imports in the industry for machine tool building is 90%, for machine building - 70% - 60%, for equipment in the energy sector - 50%, agricultural machinery - from 50 to 90% (depending on the product category). In the pharmaceutical industry, the share of imports reaches 90%.
The impetus for the development of the import substitution program was the sanctions of Western countries against Russia.
At the beginning of 2014, a Government program№328 "Development of industry and increasing its competitiveness", the implementation period of which is calculated until 2020.
Import substitution program in Russia: from words to deeds
In the fall of 2014, the Government began to actively support investment projects within the framework of import substitution.
- directly, namely through subsidies, grants and preferences;
- indirectly - through an increase in the volume of commercial loans that banks provide to enterprises on preferential terms.
The main sectors of the economy that have received the opportunity state support within the framework of the import substitution program are:
- Industry;
- Communication and telecommunications.
Projects with total cost from 1 to 20 billion rubles. The minimum participation amount is 20% of the investment project cost.
The state has chosen 10 banks through which loans from interest rate 9%, of which fixing 2.5%, unfixed 6.5% is the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. It follows from this that the terms of such loans can change over time, both towards a decrease in the cost of a loan for enterprises and towards a rise in cost.
Production sites of projects accepted for implementation within the framework of the import substitution program can be located only on the territory of the Russian Federation.
The largest enterprises of the country, namely Gazprom, Rosatom, Roskosmos and others, take an active part in the import substitution program. Each has developed a list of used imported equipment for production, which will be replaced by domestic, and set the share to be achieved by 2020.
Important information!
"The program of the Government of the Russian Federation on import substitution does not imply concrete steps, but is only the legislative foundation of this process.
It is based on:
- goals and those who fulfill them;
- the criteria for the success of the implementation and those who observe them. "
The criteria by which the success of the program will be measured include:
- Index in relation to the previous period;
- The volume of expenditure on innovation in the total volume of export goods;
- Share of enterprises industrial sector in the number of all organizations operating for the analyzed period in the country;
- The volume of exports of high-tech goods;
- Analysis of the share of expenditures on research activities (budgetary and non-budgetary funds).
The issues of replacing imported goods with domestic ones in the agricultural sector have been raised since 2010, when sanctions and counter-sanctions had not yet been introduced. The main problem in the development of this sector is attracting investment.
The Russian government defines the agricultural industry as the main one in the import substitution program, since it will ensure the food security of the state. According to the program, by 2020 more than 90% of agricultural goods should be domestic.
To attract financial resources the industry must have a high degree of investment attractiveness... However, the Russian agricultural sector is not concerned with the formation of attractiveness for investors. The main funds for the implementation of import substitution will be budget funds until 2020.
In 2015, 5.0 billion rubles were spent on this sector of the economy, in 2016 - 7.6 billion rubles, in 2017 8.3 billion rubles were budgeted.
As you know, the Russian budget is in deficit, it is possible that it will not be possible to settle it by 2017.
Funds to increase allocations for agriculture are allocated through cuts in other programs, including programs for the development of transport systems.
The dependence of the domestic market on foreign supplies has a long list of goods, which reinforces this importance. Today Russian industry cannot meet domestic demand both in quantity and quality.
One of the reasons for this is the decline in the domestic industry market in the last twenty years.
Overcoming import dependence is possible if domestic manufacturing plants are able to produce competitive products comparable in price and quality to foreign counterparts.
There are two ways to implement import substitution in Russian industry:
- full utilization of production facilities and their expansion;
- technological renewal of the production process.
The government has developed 20 separate import substitution programs, which include more than two thousand areas of production, including:
- pharmaceutical production;
- chemical production;
- automotive industry;
- machine tool and other areas.
For each industry, enterprises have been identified that will take part in the implementation of the program, and incentive measures have been developed for them that take into account their specifics.
To control the implementation of these programs, working groups have been created, which summarize the interim quarterly results, and also help to establish communication between the manufacturer and the buyer.
According to the results of 3 quarters of 2016, there is an increase in production in the following areas (compared to the same period last year):
- steam boilers, nuclear reactors + 17%;
- machines + 10%;
- medicines + 11.8%;
- cast iron and steel tubes +6,9%.
Import substitution in the IT sphere
The 21st century is the age of high technologies. But the situation on the Russian software market leaves much to be desired. The country's dependence on foreign software has a high degree, both for domestic use and at the level of large enterprises.
It will not be an easy task to squeeze global brands out of the market even by 10%, since the bulk purchase of the IT base was made from Western suppliers, and is now being serviced by them. Even in banking the use of Western software is ubiquitous.
The main task in the implementation of the import substitution program in the IT sphere is not the rejection of foreign programs, but the creation of such conditions in the country under which:
- High-quality software will be developed on the territory of the country;
- In software development teams from different countries at least half of the team will be represented by Russian programmers;
- Intellectual property for the developed software will belong to domestic enterprises.
In table 2, we present the results of the implementation of import substitution in the IT direction, which should be achieved.
table 2
Thus, with positive results of import substitution, Russia will be able to get away from import dependence in many sectors of the economy. Stimulating our own production will create jobs and improve the material situation of the country's population.
The difficult political situation in the world in last years led to the fact that we increasingly hear such a word as import substitution. This is the term that has appeared in our everyday speech in connection with a certain list of sanctions imposed on our country by the United States and the European Union. We will not discuss how legitimate and effective these actions were. Today our article is devoted specifically to the topic of import substitution in Russia.
The meaning of the term
According to the theory of economics, import substitution is the replacement of imported goods with services and goods of a domestic manufacturer. A similar process is accompanied by the emergence of new jobs and an influx of Money received from taxes to the state treasury.
History of import substitution in Russia
For the first time in the country they started talking about import substitution in 1998. In connection with the collapse of the USSR, the links between the industry base and production were completely destroyed in the country. Until 1998, Russia still somehow coped with the problems of industry and tried to raise the economy to the previous level. But the collapse of the ruble exchange rate led to completely unexpected results. Import substitution in Russia during this period led to a surge in the economy due to the absence of foreign competitors and the increased consumer interest in domestic goods.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, import substitution is already an active state support, which was received by large companies engaged in nanotechnology, mechanical engineering and nuclear energy. Such a program made it possible to maximize the development of the industry, and the profit obtained as a result of the work was redirected as support to other enterprises that had previously been deprived of state aid and subsidies.
Two years ago, many Western countries introduced a number of sanctions against our state, in response Russia announced a food embargo, which greatly stimulated agriculture. On the this moment the import substitution program has shown itself to be the most effective in this area. Last year, a record low of foreign-made food was imported into the country. We can say that our state fully provides itself with all the necessary food products. This significantly worsened the economies of countries that support anti-Russian sanctions.
Import substitution program in Russia
Russia has been thinking about import substitution for a long time, but the imposed sanctions forced economists to quickly take measures to preserve the state's food independence.
As a result, an import substitution program was created, which includes a number of measures up to 2020. Perhaps, in the future, the government will provide for the extension of this program and develop a number of measures to introduce its ideas into agriculture and industry.
The program itself does not imply a number of measures and steps; it only defines the directions and areas of import substitution in Russia. The purpose of this process is to create a competitive production in Russia that meets all the needs of the country and is aimed at new sales markets. Also, this program involves the introduction of innovative technologies and a complete change of outdated approaches to production processes.
The program limits the time frame and identifies the stages for the implementation of all points. We have already passed the first stage, it lasted from 2012 to 2015. At the moment, import substitution is new round programs from 2016 to 2020.
The text of the document also indicates the price of this process - ten trillion rubles. But the end result of this expensive activity will lead Russia to absolutely new level economic development.
Importance of import substitution in Russia
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the state policy in the field of replacing imported goods with Russian ones. After all, import substitution is not only about new jobs and independence from foreign suppliers. In general, we can say with confidence that thanks to import substitution, a new round of economic development has begun in the country. First of all, agriculture provides its consumer with high quality products that meet quality standards. But such growth requires the parallel development of many related industries, which, in turn, stimulates industry and small business. As a result, the population gets new jobs, and industrialists get innovative technologies that provide great opportunities for further business building.
Import substitution strategy
In the context of import substitution, there are several strategies that make it possible to translate into reality all points of the government's program. In general, analysts distinguish two main categories:
- basic;
- specific.
The basic strategy includes several points:
- price leadership - businesses must create products and provide services that can compete successfully on price and attract a consumer looking for products in a low price category;
- work on government orders - such a strategy is suitable for large companies that have all the prerequisites for participating in a tender for the production of certain goods;
- cooperation with foreign partners - successful cooperation with foreign companies in certain areas contributes to the growth of production capacity and the rapid introduction of innovations.
Specific import substitution strategies are not always suitable for small companies and require a wide customer base and the ability to work in an ever-changing environment.
In which areas is import substitution most important?
First of all, for the Russian economy, import substitution is the implementation of a program to fill the market with domestically produced products. Therefore, the importance of this industry is in the first place for the government. The areas of mechanical engineering and information technologies... At the moment, the import substitution program in these areas is being carried out very successfully and promises good indicators of economic growth in the coming years. Let's take a closer look at each industry.
Agriculture
We will not repeat how import substitution in this area is a priority for the state. By the end of the program, Russia should provide itself with basic food products by 90%. As a supplement, it should arrange the export of many products to foreign markets.
The list of main products includes:
- salt;
- sugar;
- a fish;
- corn;
- potatoes;
- milk products;
- meat products.
Despite the fact that the state is taking a set of measures to support farming, there are a great many problems in this area. Of course, the import substitution program is in effect, but still the stages of its implementation in agriculture look slightly blurred.
Mechanical engineering
In this area, import substitution began more than ten years ago. The government actively supported domestic automobile concerns, which led to a powerful flow of investments in the industry from foreign partners. The import substitution policy has already borne fruit - production capacities are constantly expanding, new factories are being opened thanks to investments, and innovative work methods are being introduced. In addition, it has become profitable for the manufacturer to invest in research and development.
Information Technology
This area is the most difficult for import substitution in Russia. We are significantly behind Western companies in matters of developing their own software. More than 90% of all our equipment operates on the platform of foreign developments. Even Russian banks served by foreign payment system... Some analysts argue that in the coming years, Russian information companies will not be able to gain significant market share. But in the plans of the state there is a similar point.
It should be noted that such large-scale tasks have not been set before the Russian manufacturer. After all, the Russian defense industry fully provides itself with software that has a high level of quality and compares favorably with foreign counterparts.
The program of import substitution in the field of information technology has set a number of tasks for domestic companies, the solution of which will be the implementation of all points of this program.
Summarizing all of the above, I would like to note that import substitution in Russia is an already launched process that has borne a number of fruits, regardless of the experts' assessment. Let's hope that economists and analysts were not mistaken in their forecasts, and that the activities to saturate the Russian market with domestic goods will be crowned with overwhelming success.