SERGEY TSUKHLO: “RECOVERY IN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION IS POSSIBLE, BUT IT REQUIRES THOUGHTFUL SUPPORT FROM THE STATE”

Sergey Tsukhlo, Head of Business Surveys Department at the Gaidar Institute, told Izvestia whether Russia is capable to spurt in the industrial development.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin during strategic session “Sustainable Production. Renewal Strategy” at the international industrial exhibition "Innoprom-2023" stated that the country needs to achieve full-fledged technological sovereignty in all industries without exception. This means that Russian industry will no longer return to a model based on technology imports.

Izvestia found out from representatives of production enterprises that currently various equipment and components from Western countries have already been replaced by Chinese analogs. According to Sergey Tsukhlo, in addition to restricting Western imports, smart barrier measures against Chinese substitutes are needed.

“If it is about the automobile industry, we need to introduce a total ban, for example, on the sale of cars from China outside dealer showrooms, as well as to close parallel imports by individuals and sales through companies and showrooms owned by foreign companies of any jurisdiction, using duties” the expert believes. Otherwise, he thinks that Chinese automakers will be able to trade directly and fill the entire market.

The expert believes that the basis of growth points in any sphere now is a different approach to lending, and it happens en masse. If we apply better financial models to analyze risks, we can move to the mass practice of unsecured lending aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, since the main obstacle to their growth is the lack of working capital and long money to implement large projects.