TOMSK, October 31. /TASS/. In the face of sanctions, Russia should focus on domestic advances and transition the economy to a full innovation cycle, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said on Tuesday.
"Under the conditions of anti-Russian sanctions, it is necessary to focus on transferring the economy to a full innovation cycle mode, producing domestic high-quality products - mainly based on our own results of fundamental scientific research and development," he said.
According to Patrushev, "it is important to strengthen the country's sovereignty, increase the resilience of the Russian economy to the effects of external and internal threats, as well as ensure economic security."
Patrushev added that, against the backdrop of expanding sanctions imposed by the US and its allies following the start of a special military operation, problems associated with Russia's reliance on product and technology imports have significantly worsened.
"As a result, the machine tool industry, heavy engineering, and the production of medical equipment continue to rely heavily on imported equipment and components. The Russian economy remains heavily reliant on imports of electronic components, specialized software, scientific and laboratory equipment, and medicines," he added.
According to him, "the radically changed situation requires giving a new boost to ensure technological independence for the purposes of defense and security of the state, advanced scientific and technological development, improving the quality of life of people, and balanced development of territories."
He noted that parallel imports helped stabilize the situation on the Russian market, but because they interfere with domestic developments, their continued use must be justified. "The lack of justification for further use of the parallel import mechanism, which has largely fulfilled its role in stabilizing the situation on the goods market does not contribute to increasing innovation activity in the real sector of the economy," he said.
Patrushev drew attention to the implementation of import substitution plans while speaking especially about the situation in Siberia. The goal of this project is to localize the manufacturing of vital products. However, according to the Security Council Secretary, it has not yet been feasible to complete all of the tasks required to attain technological independence.
"Business investment and innovation activity has increased slightly, particularly in markets for knowledge-intensive and technological products. Other issues that still need development include an economically justified balance between domestic consumption, export and import of industrial products, which is primarily critical for achieving technological sovereignty (including in regionals)," he said.
As a result, Patrushev stated, "local companies frequently continue to focus on purchasing ready-made foreign products and do not use the country's scientific and technical potential to carry out promising developments.".