MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. "The world did not collapse" after the departure of Western companies from Russia - on the contrary, the situation brought new unique opportunities for local producers, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the forum of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI). These opportunities are not limited to the Russian market, Russian goods are in demand in the CIS, SCO, as well as BRICS countries.

The Russian authorities and large business have an important task to promote local brands, both within the country and abroad, he added.

Contribution of every citizen

According to Putin, the contribution of every citizen is valuable for Russia and the employees of every single company can contribute to fostering the industrial, intellectual and technological potential of the country.

"Now, contributing to the common cause is more important than ever for every Russian citizen, the team of every company, and certainly for young creative research business teams - for all initiatives aimed at building and promoting industrial, intellectual and technological potential," the head of state said.

SCO and BRICS markets

"The world has not collapsed" after the departure of Western companies from Russia. On the contrary, the opportunities for Russian entrepreneurs have expanded, the president noted.

Monopoly and domination cannot last forever; Russian companies are ready for competition, he added. "As you know, no monopoly or domination lasts forever. Our companies and teams are ready for competition. Many have previously shown this. When I say ‘monopoly’, I mean your Western competitors, because they have a monopoly in many sectors," Putin explained.

At the first stage, Russian-made products may interest its closest neighbors Federation in the CIS, "then the SCO countries, BRICS. The market is incredibly large, colossal," Putin said.

Новые товарные знаки

Russian businessmen submitted more than 43,000 applications for trademark registration in five months of 2023, Putin said. "Russian entrepreneurs filed more than 43,000 applications for trademark registration over five months of this year. This is 35% more than in the like period of 2022," the head of state said.

"Meanwhile, registrations of domestic brands and the turnover of trademark rights are growing consistently. It means they are becoming more valuable assets. National entrepreneurs need to learn to more efficiently capitalize them and earn extra profits from that," Putin noted.

The term to obtain protection certificates for trademarks in Russia was lowered by almost a factor of three to four months over the last seven years, the Russian leader said. "I would say an example that in the last year, this procedure took almost fourteen months in average in the US, eleven [months] in Japan, and from one to two years with our friends in the People’s Republic of China," Putin noted.

Promoting local brands

Large foreign companies forced Russian competitors out of the markets through aggressive advertising and subsidies, but the World Trade Organization (WTO) usually ignores it, Putin.

"I've already stated that major foreign companies have largely displaced our local products for a long time, and not always due to quality and price, but more to aggressive advertising and, of course, subsidizing those things that they made at home -and subsidies there are plain insane in some sectors. And, in general, the WTO either does not notice or notices but cannot act. Because our international partners, particularly in Europe, have figured out how to get around all these WTO regulations," he said.

At the same time, he noted that foreign companies invested huge resources in advertising, and some of them even "turned their withdrawal from Russia into a high-profile PR campaign." "But I don't know whether a PR stunt would help them in their business or not, I doubt it," Putin added.

Russia needs a targeted policy of promoting local brands, Putin stressed. "I believe that we need a targeted broad promotion program for local brands at all levels, including media, particularly state-owned media, social networks, and new media. Of course, each region should have its own promotional strategies for local companies," he said. According to Putin, the support of the regions plays a key role in this.