Sergey Chemezov, a long-time associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin and head of the Rostec state corporation, admitted that Russia, starting from the 90s, would not have been able to achieve great success in industry without an open market and Western technologies, at the same time he urged everyone to stop underestimating Russian products, and start to be proud of it. He shared his opinion in a column for RBC, published on the first day of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum (SPIEF).

Chemezov acknowledged that without foreign technology, Russian industry would not have been able to develop at a normal pace, moreover, he is convinced that international cooperation and the free market formed the basis of Russia's economic growth at the beginning of Putin's rule.

“For our country, which practically lost its industry in the 1990s, this cooperation gave a lot. It gave us quick access to advanced technologies, the best world experience and international markets. Thanks to him, we carried out technical re-equipment at the highest level and were able to quickly create new products: airplanes, helicopters, cars, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, etc. Therefore, we were able to achieve quick results where it would have taken decades otherwise,” writes Chemezov.

Relying on foreign experience helped Russia to establish the production of modern cars, Superjet and MS-21 liners, Ansat and Ka-62 helicopters, and Chemezov notes that these are examples of “not screwdriver assembly, but full-fledged development and production,” even despite the high level of imported parts. However, the head of the state corporation refuses to call such a situation "dependence", since, according to him, such a practice has long been the norm of the modern economy. As an example, he cites the American corporation Apple, whose smartphones are assembled "from Asian stuffing, but remain the pride of the United States."

“Let's be honest: are Germany, Japan, France, Australia or Canada independent of foreign goods and technologies? And why is an iPhone with Asian filling an American pride, while our passenger plane, which carries 30 million passengers a year and is hundreds of times more complicated, with partner components, is perceived as a “national shame”? - the top manager is indignant.

Chemezov insists that such a dismissive attitude towards their own production is wrong. He is convinced that not a single “import-independent” economy in the world would have survived the sanctions that Russia faced. However, the head of the state-owned company "remains optimistic", as he sees a "window of opportunity" in the current situation. According to him, Russia has already come a long way and has a significant amount of its own developments, which will make it possible to find domestic analogues and solutions. As evidence, Chemezov boasted that over the past 13 years of work under his leadership, the company's revenue has grown as much as four times: from 500 billion rubles in 2009 to 2 trillion in 2021 <the company's real revenue has grown less than twice: 500 billion rubles in 2021 prices, this is 1.09 trillion rubles, while the company's net profit in 2021 amounted to only 163.5 billion rubles - The Insider> .

“In order to have your own, you have to buy your own — there is no other way,” Chemezov is sure.

Chemezov explains the coming difficulties with politics; in his opinion, sanctions are a political instrument of economic restraint, even a "betrayal". True, in his column, the head of Rostec does not say a word about the reasons for the sanctions, and also about the fact that a significant part of foreign companies left Russia of their own free will, simply because cooperation with Russia during the war turned out to be unacceptable and too toxic for them. .

Sergei Chemezov is a longtime associate of Vladimir Putin, whom they have known since their service in the KGB units in the GDR until the fall of the Berlin Wall. In Germany, the security forces and their families even lived in the same house for some time.

On June 15, the International Economic Forum (SPIEF-22) opened in St. Petersburg, the slogan of the forum is: "New World - New Opportunities." During the event, a plenary session will traditionally be held with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who, according to his aides, intends to make some kind of "extremely important speech" .