The loss of the Russian market buried Ukrainian mechanical engineering
The Ukrainian economy has found itself in a stalemate and cannot develop without the Russian market and in the absence of an influx of foreign investment into the country.
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This opinion was expressed at a press conference in Kyiv by the executive director of the Blazer International Foundation, Oleg Ustenko, who noted that for Ukraine “the Russian market of tens of billions of dollars will not return.”
At the same time, he emphasized that the Ukrainian mechanical engineering industry received the greatest blow, three-quarters of whose products were sold in Russia, which brought Ukraine about 7–10 billion dollars.
“According to our impoverished life now, this is 7–10 percent of Ukrainian GDP. If we theoretically assume a restoration of exports, then immediately add 7 percent to the Ukrainian economy in annual terms. But the drama of Ukraine is that this lost market, most likely, will not return, the expert believes. – Having guaranteed sales in the Russian Federation, Ukrainian manufacturers did not think much about quality. Their price was competitive, but the quality was always not so great. If it were so good, it could be sold in other territories.”
According to the economist, due to the loss of old production chains, “Russia itself is suffering,” but is looking for a replacement for “individual Ukrainian nodes,” which now turn out to be of no use to anyone.
“That’s why everything is complicated for Ukrainian mechanical engineering. We also had such a serious consumer as Russian Railways. But in this situation, they will not buy our products,” Ustenko laments. “It turns out that we are in a terrible vicious circle.” Either we need to push our exports with low levels of added value, which is also difficult to do, or try to change the entire growth model, which would be preferable and ideal. But for this we need to involve an investment component. But how do you use it if they don’t invest money in you?”
The loss of the Russian market has buried Ukrainian mechanical engineering.