Olga Berezinskaya participated in the conference “Russian Industry”

On 25-27 May, Olga Berezinskaya, researcher at the Financial Studies department, attended the annual conference "Russian Industry: import substitution, cost optimization and efficient procurements."

In the framework of the fourth annual meeting, representatives of regulatory state bodies, industrial companies, suppliers of equipment and components and designated companies discussed feasible ways of further development of the industry, development of methodology for adaptation to new conditions, specifics of local content.

Olga Berezinskaya made a presentation "Foreign dependency of the Russian economy: kind of origin and tools for its reduction." In the presentation, she stressed the fact that during the economic growth consumer import dominated on the back of overheated demand. In the post-crisis period, import to Russia to a larger extent started to determine the quality of economic growth (active investment import) and its rates (increase of intermediary import as a resource for Russian production). Industrial modernization tasks have predetermined the import growth to Russia (import dependency growth), because domestic output of products and services was done with imported raw materials, materials and components.

The expert also underlined high investment dependency of the Russian economy on import. Growth of the investment goods both significantly exceeds output growth of Russian machine building complex and investment of enterprises in machines, equipment and means of transport. Meanwhile, depreciation of the ruble practically does not tell on the structure of purchased equipment. As a result, there is no evident substitution of imported equipment with the Russian one.

In order to reduce import dependency of the Russian economy, concludes Berezinskaya, targeted measures are required for implementation aimed at modernization of the Russian machine building complex for the output of equipment capable to substitute on the Russian market presently zero option imported equipment. Administrative measures to reduce import procurements of industrial equipment in order to stimulate demand for similar domestic equipment carry serious strategic risks.