Russia's Push for Self-Sufficient Economy Fails Before Western Sanctions

[dalton99a]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russias-push-for-self-sufficient-economy-fails-before-western-sanctions-11647777600

Russia’s Push for Self-Sufficient Economy Fails Before Western Sanctions
Building Fortress Russia was supposed to protect the country from sanctions. It is still highly dependent on imports.
By Georgi Kantchev and Alexander Osipovich
March 20, 2022 8:00 am ET

...

But Russia’s dependence on imports actually worsened over the years. In 2021, some 81% of manufacturers said they couldn’t find any Russian versions of imported products they needed. More than half were dissatisfied with the quality of homegrown production. Both figures were the highest recorded since the survey by Russia’s Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy began in 2015.

In 2020, imports accounted for 75% of sales of nonfood consumer goods in the Russian retail market, according to a study by the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. In some sectors the share was even higher, rising to 86% for telecommunications equipment, the study found. Imports equaled around a fifth of GDP in 2020, compared with 16% in China and higher than other big economies such as India and Brazil.

Russia’s auto makers have been especially hard-hit by a lack of imported components such as computer chips. On Wednesday, the leader of Russia’s Tatarstan region warned in televised remarks that truck maker Kamaz was facing a production drop of up to 40% and that some 15,000 of its employees could be idled until the company’s supply-chain issues are resolved.

Technology products are among the most critical goods cut off by the sanctions, including semiconductors, computers, lasers and sensors. The ruble, meanwhile, has plummeted in value, raising the price of the goods Russia can still import.

Another high-risk area for Russia is its energy industry. Russia relies on Western technology for its aging oil and gas fields. Earlier sanctions forced Russian energy companies to delay or cancel projects while domestic technology has often proven inadequate, analysts say.

[BeyondGeography]

1. Bring on the mass unemployment

If that sounds harsh, Google Mariupol/Images.

This is about getting ordinary Russians to connect the dots.

[SWBTATTReg]

2. Putin is an IDIOT. Where in the hell has he been, over the last 10-20-30 years, as

the Economies of the world have meshed together, more and more, into a stemless, totally interconnected, worldwide economy, including Russia? He's like sitting at that 100-foot conference table, all by himself, and no one is talking to him, no one! Reminds me of tRump at one of the European affairs several years back, when not a single other person was sitting there with him, visiting him, talking with him on anything.

I guess it's like when we meet someone somewhere, and you talk to them for a few minutes, and then you realize that YIKES, I wish I'd never started a conversation w/ this person, they are literally dumber than a rock!

[paleotn]

3. Pipe dream. More Kremlin BS.

Can't be done in a vastly complex, integrated world. Even if it were possible, it would take generations and Russia would have to import the capital goods to pull it off. Which they can't. And don't look to China. They want a dependent, resource rich subsidiary, not a Russia that can compete with them in global markets. Don't misconstrue China's rhetoric for anything remotely resembling Russia and Putin love.