MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin believes that it possible to speak about a breakthrough in import substitution in Russia’s manufacturing and deems the work of the Industrial Development Fund as efficient.

"Of course, there is an import substitution program being implemented, which is ‘successful’, to put it this way, depending on how it is evaluated, but the 60% in manufacturing is a breakthrough. It was rather frustrating when [the program] started," he said when answering questions from State Duma MPs after delivering an annual report on the government’s work in 2020 to the lower house on Wednesday.

"The Industrial Development Fund is a very efficient tool for this development now," he said, adding that the Fund backed 100 anti-COVID projects to the tune of 30 bln rubles ($404 mln), as well as projects in the field of automotive manufacturing and in the agricultural machinery industry.