“According to experts surveyed by “”RG””, the extension of such measures is justified as they have already proven their effectiveness. “”Judging by the shelves in stores, measures to support imports are quite sufficient and tactically the Ministry of Industry and Trade is coping with the situation,”” said Vyacheslav Cheglov, Professor of the Basic Department of Trade Policy at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
On the other hand, in the situation that the Russian economy is facing, these measures may need to be more radical in content and more long-lasting in duration, according to Galina Balandina, Senior Researcher at the Center for Regional Policy of the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEI) of the RANEPA. “”In particular, given the significant increase in transport and logistics and financial costs for conducting foreign economic activity, I believe that duties should be zeroed out on all goods, with rare exceptions for markets that require protectionist measures to support domestic producers,”” she believes.
The point is that in addition to tactical tasks of filling store shelves with products, one should be prepared for continued unfriendly actions by other countries. “”Unfriendly countries have leverage to influence major corporations in China, India, Asia, and Latin America. It can be expected that pressure on them to prevent parallel imports will increase. And the lever of pressure on their own manufacturing corporations by the United States and European countries has not been fully utilized. Its application is only restrained by concerns about damaging businesses and, as a result, budgets and causing social problems in their own state,”” warns Cheglov.
Minimizing the damage from these risks can be achieved by following a course of reducing barriers and supporting businesses that operate in the external contour. “”Substantial liberalization of administrative barriers in foreign trade, as well as additional measures to ensure transport and logistics infrastructure on new trading routes – south, east; as well as the development of insurance institutions, financial support, consulting assistance to foreign trade participants; expansion of trade and economic ties and relations with countries friendly to Russia,”” lists Balandina.
But this is not a panacea, but merely a way to recover from the shock and restructure. “”In the long term, either we will establish our own processing production, or we will return to the status of a resource supplier country. There are hopes for the former,”” Cheglov believes.
Source: Rossiyskaya Gazeta.”
