Putin: Russian industry can substitute products of foreign companies that left Russian market

ST. PETERSBURG. Jan 18 (Interfax) - The competence of Russian industrial enterprises allows them to substitute the products of foreign manufacturers, which have left the Russian market, President Vladimir Putin said.

"After some of our so-called partners left our market and the levels of our production became quite high, our enterprises quite easily pick up what was left by these very partners. That is, we ourselves have become able to produce what we could not produce yesterday," he said during a conversation with workers of the Obukhov State Plant, which is part of the Almaz-Antey Air Defense Concern, on Wednesday.

"Of course, this does not mean that we can produce everything, 100 percent, but we will achieve the levels of production that we need," Putin went on to say.

The president's attention was drawn to the fact that the defense enterprises are currently operating in several shifts due to increased needs for defense products amid the special military operation in Ukraine. The president was asked as to whether there was a threat that upon the completion of the operation, the situation would return to the situation that existed in the 1990s, when the defense enterprises were idle without orders.

Putin said that the Russian defense industry was given a boost long before the special military operation.

He also noted that orders, which were placed at the defense enterprises, are long-term.

Besides, the president noted that despite the special military operation, the task of manufacturing civilian products at the defense enterprises is still relevant.

The share of such products should reach 30%, he said. This figure stood at 27% by the end of 2021.

"Currently, the amount of military hardware is increasing and our needs are growing, but this task of the output of civilian products will be gradually resolved all the same. There will be also military orders, we will develop the civilian component as well. I am sure that such large concerns as Almaz-Antey and the Obukhov Plant will be standing firmly on their feet," he said in this regard.