The import substitution trends in Russia and in its regions

Abstract

Purpose: to analyze the foreign trade of individual regions of the Central black earth region during the implementation of the policy of import substitution in order to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of its implementation. Discussion: the issue of import substitution became most acute in 2014, when economic sanctions were imposed against Russia by Western countries. Our side has been followed by forced retaliatory measures in the form of bans on the import of some goods into the country. In this regard, the need to study the social and economic consequences of these measures, the benefits and risks, opportunities and threats for individual regions and for Russia as a whole has become urgent. A comparative analysis of export, import, international competitiveness of the Belgorod, Kursk and Voronezh regions is carried out. The advantages and disadvantages of import substitution programs implemented in these regions are considered. Results: the regions under consideration are largely similar in terms of the sectoral structure of the economy, the level of security of the main components of the regional economic potential, the composition of the structure of territorial assets. In the Kursk and Belgorod regions, there is a similar trend of decreasing the import dependence of food products and agricultural raw materials, which characterizes the effective policy of import substitution carried out in the regions in this industry. However, the analysis shows the existence of certain differences in the economic development of the studied areas, characterized, in particular, by the volume and dynamics of GRP in general and per capita, as well as the commodity structure of exports use of regional assets, i.e. different levels of capitalization of the economy of these regions, as well as the need for specific methods of implementation of import substitution policy.