The use of imports in the domestic industry has declined sharply over the past 19 years, this follows from a study that was presented on February 15 in Moscow. If in 1999 the share of foreign products accounted for 49%, then by the end of 2018 – 39%. Yuri Simachev, Director for Economic Policy at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, told reporters about this during the presentation.
According to him, this level of consumption is significantly lower than in other developed countries.
“This is comparable to the indicator of the United States and India, plus two times lower than in the economies of Eastern Europe – Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Baltic countries. It is also 1.5 times lower than in Canada and Australia, 1.3 times lower than in Germany,” the expert said.
Simachev noted that the import itself does not carry negative risks – all countries import products to one degree or another. Only dependence on foreign goods, the absence of alternatives in the choice, acquires significance.
According to the expert, import substitution has been successful, for example, in the agro-industrial complex. In this industry, Russia has not only learned to satisfy its needs, but also began to participate in world exports with a competitive advantage. While the technological dependence on imports in the country remains, as well as in complex equipment.
The Russian Federation is traditionally one of the leaders in the production of basic types of food products, such as wheat, barley, sunflower oil, the Ministry of Agriculture added to Izvestia.
For example, the production of cereals and legumes is breaking records. According to Rosstat, in 2022 their harvest in net weight amounted to 153.8 million tons against 121.4 million tons in 2021.
“We are also among the largest exporters of these products, including the first place in the world in the supply of wheat. In addition, our country occupies a significant share in the world production of meat, sugar, butter and cheese,” the ministry stressed.
Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:
Our own among strangers: over the past 19 years, imports to the Russian Federation have seriously decreased
