Nearly 30% of advanced manufacturing technologies used in Russia are acquired abroad

Russian enterprises’ technological portfolios reveal a high dependence on imported solutions and a limited use of their own developments, researchers claim.

Having considered the results of the federal statistical observation of the use of advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT) for 2011-2018, Higher School of Economics University, Russia, researchers for the first time assessed the technological self-sufficiency of Russian production at the regional level.

Nationwide trends demonstrate relatively high dependence on imported technologies (ranging from 16% to 38%) paired with low intensity of the use of AMT in-house (less than 22% in all types of regions).

The work used a synthetic classification of territories, dividing the regions into nine types according to basic parameters of their economic development. This made it possible to establish the relationship between enterprises’ technological portfolios and the socio-economic conditions under which they were developed.

The results of the study show that the demand for AMT developed in Russia is increasing. In fact, between 2011 and 2018, the number of AMT used increased by 33%, and in 2018 they amounted to almost 255,000 units in absolute terms.

Successful examples of the use of AMT acquired in Russia are demonstrated by those types of developed regions, whose economies rely on the extractive and manufacturing industries, as well as regions that ensure effective industry-science interactions.

Meanwhile, innovation strategies focused on independent development of novel manufacturing solutions are not widespread in Russia. Fewer than 20% of organisations meet the need for AMT by using their own resources; the majority purchase their technology either in Russia or abroad.