The Ministry of Industry and Trade again sees a way out in the distribution of the budget

28.08.2023       

For example, last week the Ministry of Industry and Trade published on regulation.gov.ru a draft resolution on subsidizing sales of Russian marine equipment. The money is not very large: it is proposed to allocate 2 billion rubles each to equip 300 ships that are now being built in the Russian Federation. in 2025-2026, while taking them from the "voluntary" contributions to the budget of companies leaving Russia, and spend — to reduce prices for such equipment in comparison with imported analogues. The latter are now half the price, that is, de facto, foreigners are offered to pay for the launch of production facilities, the cost of production of which is twice as high as market prices.

In the explanatory note, the ministry directly says: manufacturers from friendly countries subsidize their exports, and without subsidies it is impossible to create their own capacities in the Russian Federation.

The question, however, is what happens when these productions are up and running. The Ministry of Industry and Trade itself, having supported, for example, the production of Russian ventilators during the pandemic, recently closed their imports in order to ensure profitability for the established facilities, and is likely counting on the replication of this method. Otherwise, subsidizing will not be limited to two years: why should manufacturers who "beat off" the cost of releasing the first batches at someone else's expense, to reduce prices? It is strange to think that by this time China, for example, will no longer support its exporters, how strange it is to count on winning the competition of subsidies with the second world economy.

Foreigners' money, however, will run out by this moment, and the budget is unlikely to be ready to take on new burden. Moreover, the prospects for replicating "self-isolation" of the Russian economy are doubtful, the expansion of import bans also has a limit — The Russian Federation is a member of the WTO, and the supply of components from friendly countries, without which the plants will stand up, comes in a package with the supply of finished products, and with the export of Russian energy. Kommersant

the import ban extension also has a — The Russian Federation is a member of the WTO, and the supply of components from friendly countries, without which the plants will stand up, comes in a package with the supply of finished products, and with the export of Russian energy. Kommersant

the import ban extension also has a — The Russian Federation is a member of the WTO, and the supply of components from friendly countries, without which the plants will stand up, comes in a package with the supply of finished products, and with the export of Russian energy. Kommersant