Is it true that Russia is not developing its own production? | Economics | Money

Fake messages are being spread online that Russia does not have its own production and all major industries have reduced volumes due to sanctions and lack of supplies of raw materials and components from abroad. Aif.ru, as part of the Noodles Media project, aimed at exposing false information, was convinced that this was not the case at all.

Why have there been reports that Russia does not have its own production?

Reports that Russia does not have its own production appeared due to low industrial production last year, as well as the need to replace companies that left the Russian market.

Nevertheless, during the years of the sanctions regime, more than 1.5 thousand projects were implemented in Russia to create analogues of products that were previously supplied from abroad. In order to reduce the country’s food dependence, the State Program for the Development of Agriculture for 2013-2020 was launched. In April 2014, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the program “Development of Industry and Increasing Its Competitiveness,” the goal of which was to reduce the share of imports of finished products and components.

As part of the import substitution policy, the main problem in some areas still remains the lack of domestic analogues, as well as the lower quality of equipment, components and raw materials.

How are things going with your own production in Russia?

Since the beginning of 2023, industrial production in Russia has grown by 1.8%. Industrial output exceeded the pre-crisis level of 2021 (by 4.4% in May and 2.4% in April). Growth was noted in industries related to domestic demand and defense industry enterprises: electronics (+79%), furniture (+43%), medicines (+34%), metal structures (+16%), building materials (+10%), metallurgy (+7%) and metal structures (+16%).

Also, a significant increase in domestic production is observed in the food industry, agriculture, heavy engineering and the shipbuilding industry. Thanks to the state program for the development of agriculture, Russia has turned from a large net importer of meat into a net exporter. According to the forecast of the Ministry of Agriculture, exports of agricultural products this year may exceed $45 billion compared to $41.6 billion last year.

According to the Federal Customs Service (FCS), in January-September 2023, Russia exported food products and agricultural raw materials worth $32.3 billion, which is 10.9% more than in the same period last year ($29.1 billion). .). According to Director of the Federal Center “Agroexport” of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia Andrey KucherovOver the past year, Russia has more than doubled its exports of agricultural products to Algeria. Russia has also increased exports of fish products to China. Over 10 months, it doubled to 944 thousand tons.

The increase in fish production was achieved through the construction of new fish processing plants and the renewal of the fishing fleet. As part of the quotas for investment program, agreements were concluded for the construction of 64 fishing vessels, 41 crab fishing vessels and 27 fish processing plants. By the beginning of 2023, 7 fishing vessels and 4 crab catchers were built.

According to Rosstat, production volumes in the automotive industry have increased in Russia. According to the service, the production of passenger cars in July 2023 increased by 2.1 times compared to last year. Buses with a permissible maximum weight of up to five tons were produced by 77.9% more than in July 2022. Over the same time, the production of fiber optic cables, passenger railway cars, and sections of mainline diesel locomotives has almost doubled. According to the results of January – October, more than 567 thousand cars were produced, which is more than 10% higher than the figures for 10 months of last year.

According to Vice President of the Russian Export Center Alexey Solodov, Russian manufacturers today can receive a “Made in Russia” certificate. Since December last year, they have been issued for more than a thousand products. The certificate confirms the quality of the product and the reliability of the supplier. Among the product items for which Russian companies received a certificate are ice cream, bio-yogurt and other food products, cosmetic products, innovative paints, containers, bodies and much more.

---

Sources: