Sanctions benefited Russian mechanical engineering
The sanctions imposed by the West against Russia in 2014 pushed the Russian government to the need to develop its own economy.
This opinion is expressed by the chairman of the Rosspetsmash association, Konstantin Babkin, who is quoted by Komsomolskaya Pravda.
"We've been striving for WTO membership for years , wanting to please the West and integrate into the global economy. To that end, we met all the conditions they set for us, opening our market. And finally, the advent of sanctions and counter-sanctions pushed our government to stop working for other countries' economies and start developing our own. This improved the thinking of our officials; they began supporting agriculture, mechanical engineering, and equipment for the food industry. We felt it. So, the sanctions turned out to be a good thing for us," Babkin believes.
The publication notes that over the past five years, the production of Russian agricultural machinery has tripled, and its market share has increased from 26% to 56%. In addition, road construction production increased by 40%, and the average salary in mechanical engineering rose by 15%. The number of employees has also increased: if previously 100 thousand people worked in agricultural engineering, now there are 130 thousand.
According to Babkin, for any enterprise that wants to produce something in Russia, the state must provide conditions for competition no worse than those of its Western colleagues: cheap loans, low taxes, easy bureaucracy, government subsidies.
"This isn't always the case," admits the chairman of the Rosspetsmash association. "Gasoline excise taxes have increased, and all energy prices have gone up . VAT and land taxes have been raised. The key interest rate has been at exorbitant levels for many years. And the cost of credit is crucial for production development. Therefore, if it weren't for the sanctions, our manufacturers wouldn't be able to compete with Western ones."
Sanctions have benefited the Russian mechanical engineering industry.