Principles of import substitution strategy for industrial production in Russia

Abstract

After the introduction of Western countries economic sanctions against Russia, the import substitution became one of economic development priorities. It must be clarified , that the achievement of desired results in this field can’t be instantaneous. First, you must understand that the selfsufficiency presents for such for a large country as Russia a permanent condition for its sustainable development. As estimated by Japanese specialists, in the eighties of the last century, the Soviet Union, conscious of the economic security, occupied in this regard the first place, the United States the second place in the world, while Germany and Japan were far lagging behind them. Now, due to the policy of Russia’s integration into the global economy carried out in the last decades we found ourselves in many kinds of products beyond the threshold of safety. While in no case seeking to isolate themselves, we are going to reduce the import dependence. Secondly, it should be borne in mind that excessive imports depress domestic industry designed to meet the needs we are now importing. On the other side, we can’t immediately abandon the import of goods satisfying the needs. We can regard the task of import substitution as performed only after domestic products will be completely able to substitute the import on the domestic market To do so, we need time and thoroughly considered plan of action. The authors propose a strategic framework, on the basis of which it is possible to build the import substitution program. According to the authors, we can immediately begin developing and executing the program , without waiting for foreign investment.