Translated material
Software self-sufficiency
Experts suggest hitting the crisis with domestic production
Members of the Russian expert community suggested using the global crisis to revive the domestic industry during yesterday's press conference at the Rosbalt agency. The event took place on the eve of the “Buy Russian” exhibition, which will open at the All-Russian Exhibition Center on December 10.The highlight of the program was the “fresh” proposal to transfer Russian bureaucrats from foreign cars to products of the domestic automobile industry. This initiative, expressed by Boris Nemtsov more than ten years ago, when he was first deputy prime minister, suffered a crushing fiasco when attempted to be implemented. However, State Duma deputy from United Russia, political scientist Sergei Markov advocates resuscitation of this idea: “Only in African countries do government officials drive foreign cars, and in developed countries do they drive their own cars. Even in India! Yes, their products there are not brilliant, and neither are ours. Let officials feel with all their nature the depth of the potholes on Russian roads and the need for investment in the automobile industry.” Mr. Markov assured the Vremya Novostei correspondent that he has a Zhiguli and a Niva in his garage, which he is happy with, in particular because if they break down they can be repaired in any remote place.
In addition to cars, Sergei Markov suggests purchasing “ exclusively goods from domestic producers ” during any government procurement, from fruit for a sanatorium to airplanes. He also calls for special support for non-competitive industries, which in the future may become leading: “The business of nuclear engineering, shipbuilding, and the aviation industry cannot be done quickly, like a business at stalls. We need long-term money, and this requires state support.”
This topic was picked up by the president of the All-Russian Quality Association, Gennady Voronin, who complained that shipbuilding, which was developed in Soviet times, has now “shrinked tenfold.” In this regard, he called for adopting overseas experience in solving the problem: “In America, to support this industry, enterprises are given a loan for 25 years, and 88% of the cost of the vessel is paid at 2-3% per annum. Under such conditions, we would become one of the most advanced countries in ten years!”
At the same time, Mr. Voronin honestly admitted that the quality of domestic products often leaves much to be desired. So far, only two out of ten enterprises are properly implementing the European quality management system ISO 9000 in their businesses. “And in Kazakhstan and Ukraine, if someone wants to switch to this standard, the state takes on 50% of the costs,” Mr. Mr. Voronin is another foreign role model.
The head of the “Buy Russian” program, Igor Filonenko, agreed with the idea of improving the quality of products, emphasizing that any domestic product must initially be competitive not only in the domestic but also in the world market: “It is wrong to say that first we will conquer the Russian market, and then Let's reach new frontiers. Now almost every eatery is forced to compete with multinational corporations - this must be kept in mind.”
Speaking about snack bars, Mr. Filonenko did not ignore the issues of food production. “There are few unplowed soils left, and seven-eighths of them are in Russia and Ukraine,” he noted. “Our country is a potential food supplier for the whole world.”
The same quality is failing our farmers. “Russia has 240 million hectares of arable land and 142 million inhabitants, and Japan has 127 million inhabitants and 5 million hectares,” Mr. Voronin conducted a comparative analysis. “At the same time, they provide for themselves by 78%, and we provide for 58%.” And all because “only 3% of farmland is cultivated using modern technologies.” “The most important thing is that food and defense are good,” the expert concluded his speech, smoothly moving from food to guns and tanks. According to him, in recent years Russia has remained a world leader in the development of modern military equipment, but prototypes have not been put into mass production, which has had a detrimental effect on the state of the industry. And analysts also suggest that this problem should not be put on the back burner - there is no chance that after the military conflict in the Caucasus, another war will break out.
So if the state follows all this advice, then it will be forced to invest the maximum in both guns and oil. And even in the midst of a crisis. True, there is no doubt that Russian “consumers” will use domestic and not imported guns, unlike oil.