TULA, April 4. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he believes that the West’s anti-Russian sanctions will remain in place for a long time, so it is necessary to develop measures for the country's sovereign development in the long term.
"We all understand that the sanctions are here to stay, of course, so along with priority measures to replace imported technologies and products, medium-and long-term reforms are needed, aimed at the strategic goals of the country’s sovereign development," Putin said at a meeting of the State Council Presidium on Tuesday.
Many domestic industries found themselves "at the epicenter of the sanctions blockade" when the Western countries opted for a sharp break in trade, economic and cooperation ties, the President recalled.
However, according to him, Russia has managed to "concentrate resources and efforts to ensure the sustainability of the economic situation." Thus, the necessary steps were taken to replace Western products with equivalents made in Russia or in one of its friendly states, "we began to invest heavily in the replacement of imported equipment and software, introducing new mechanisms for preferential and project financing."
According to Putin, "this work was done in an expedited, extremely intense mode." "Now, we are already seeing its positive results. Moreover, we were able to enter a new cycle of economic growth," the head of state stressed.
The President cited the opinion of one of the leaders of the Tulazheldormash plant, which he visited earlier on Tuesday.
"He said:" We were forced to switch to import substitution in areas we had not thought about before. "This phrase is key - we were forced. I think that if we had not been forced, we would never have done this," Putin stressed.
At the Council’s meeting, he proposed to discuss the development of Russia's industry, industrial potential, taking into account external pressure.