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Putin says Russia might beef up share of domestic equipment in oil, gas sector to 90%

To date, this share is some 48%, the Russian leader recalled

MOSCOW, November 28. /TASS/. Russia may increase the share of domestic equipment in the oil and gas sector to 90%, in the case of new sanctions, President Vladimir Putin told the VTB Capital’s investment forum Russia Calling!

"In the oil and gas sector it [the share of domestic equipment] is 48% so far, but the process is growing," the head of state said.

"If restrictions are imposed, we will solve this problem, and just like in transport engineering, we will have the share of domestic product up to 90%, Putin vowed.

Speaking of import substitution, he recalled that it was done, "not in the name of having a good time, but it turned out that it was not so bad." As an example, Putin named the agricultural sector, which has grown several times. According to him, the dream of Russian farmers is that the EU sanctions and Russia’s retaliatory measures will never be lifted.

"Now, domestic competition is developing instead of the external one. In fact, it plays an antitrust role quite confidently," the head of state stressed.

Putin noted that the volume of exports of agricultural products in the first ten months of 2018 rose to $21 bln. "For us, this is a good figure," he said.

In transport engineering, the share of domestic equipment is 95-98%, in the automotive industry - 85%.

"This is also a result of deep localization (establishing of production at our local sites - TASS) we agreed about with our partners, primarily from European countries," the President noted.

According to him, in the military equipment sector, Russia has almost completely abandoned imports.

Putin noted that in 2017, 600 bln rubles ($8.9 bln) were invested in import substitution programs, of which 120 bln rubles ($1.7 bln) came from the budget.

"This is not bad, but we would like to abandon such methods of relations as soon as possible and potentially return to a normal economic life and global trade," Putin noted.