Russian Industry Ministry expects growth in sector in 2021
MOSCOW. Jan 20 (Interfax) - Industrial production in Russia will grow in 2021, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said, adding that particular attention will be devoted this year to the development of metallurgy, production of construction materials, and the glass and chemical industries.
"I expect that, considering the trend that we saw at the tail end of the fourth quarter of last year at least, and we're seeing this continued trend in January, although it's always fairly disputable from year to year, but we're proceeding from the assumption that there will be modest growth in 2021," Manturov said on Vesti FM.
He said that industry "survived" last year with figures "approximately at the 2019 level." The Federal Statistics Service will release official data toward the end of January, but they will not radically change preliminary figures, he said.
The pharmaceutical industry saw strong growth of nearly 20%, light industry grew by 10% primarily on the back of production of personal protection equipment, and farm machinery manufacturing grew by more than 15%, in part thanks to state support to stimulate demand, Manturov said.
"And remember what kind of forecasts there were in March for the auto industry, that everything's collapsed," he said. Actually, the market slumped 10%, "but the same goes for production," Manturov said, adding that "this is a decent result of the joint work of business and the state to support demand."
"I think it's still early to talk about forecasts for 2021, how it will turn out, but considering that we're supposed to devote more attention, for example, to the sectors of metallurgy, construction materials, the glass industry and chemicals, I expect that we should generate some growth compared to the results of the previous year," Manturov said.