Foreign trade of the Russian Federation. Foreign trade turnover
Although Rus' has been engaged in foreign trade since the 10th century (the famous route from the Varangians to the Greeks), the country truly became involved in international trade only in the 16th century - it was then, after the unification of the fragmented Russian principalities into a single state, the growth of agricultural production -va and crafts, a single general Russian market.
In fact, the beginning of Russia’s significant inclusion in international trade should be called the reign of Ivan the Terrible.
In February 1554, the captain of the English ship Edward Bonaventure, Richard Chancellor (of the 3 ships sent by the British to search for the northern sea route to China, Japan and India, only one survived.) was personally received by the king. The Tsar granted the British trade privileges in Russia, including the right to duty-free trade throughout the country. As a result, the Moscow Company was created in 1555, which in its hands virtually monopolized Anglo-Russian trade. It was, in fact, the predecessor of more famous trade and political organizations such as the East India Company, and modern TNCs in general. Since 1557, regular trade along the northern route began.
It is worth saying that trade relations between England and Russia were based on selling each other goods that were strategically important for the parties. Wood, wax, leather, meat, lard, sometimes grain, flax, hemp, blubber, resin, ropes, ship masts, i.e. were supplied from Russia to England. raw materials. The value of these supplies was so great that Western historians admit that the English fleet of that time, which defeated the Spanish Armada, was built largely from Russian materials.
The British brought to Moscow paper, sugar, salt, fabrics, dishes, copper, lead tiles for roofing, luxury goods, i.e. mainly manufactured goods. But the tsar’s most important interest was in military products and raw materials for the military industry - lead, gunpowder, saltpeter, sulfur, cannons, muskets and ammunition.
Of course, not only the British opened the Russian market - the Germans, Italians, Spaniards, and Dutch also actively traded with Russia. But it was the British who were the first to bring foreign trade with Russia to the level of state policy.
Since 1649, with the adoption of the Council Code, privileges were given to Russian merchants, in particular, foreign merchants were prohibited from internal trade in Russia - only the “outlet” remained in the form of Arkhangelsk, and even the payment of duties, which were significantly increased. In addition, certain days for trade, places and a list of permitted goods were established. These protectionist measures allowed large commercial capital to emerge in Russia.
Under Peter the structure foreign trade Russia has changed a lot, for example, the share of raw materials from non-manufacturing (i.e. agricultural) production fell from 94% to 20%, but manufactured goods began to occupy 72% of Russian exports, primarily iron, which had a steady demand until the beginning of the 19th century.
Since Catherine 2, Russia has established itself on the world market as the main exporter of grain, while the export of manufactured goods began to decline significantly due to the rapid industrial revolution in England, whose products began to displace Russian products from the market. Imports, as before, consisted mainly of manufactured goods and consumer goods.
With the abolition of serfdom and the genuine development of capitalism and Russian industry, some growth in the export of industrial products began again, but Russia remained a “raw materials” country at the beginning of the 20th century.
Thus, foreign trade turnover increased from 1.453 billion rubles to 2.894 billion, i.e. almost 2 times. Exports in 1913 amounted to 1.52 billion, imports 1.37 billion. At the same time, the structure of exports was dominated by the so-called. life supplies (essentially agricultural products, as well as partially products Food Industry) - 55.2%, raw materials and semi-finished products - 37%, factory products (actually engineering products and consumer goods) accounted for only 5.6% of exports in 1913. In general, at the beginning of the 20th century, raw materials accounted for 92-94% of Russian exports, while high value-added products accounted for only 4-6%. But a third of Russian imports were factory products. The underdevelopment of Russian mechanical engineering can be demonstrated by the following figures: in 1913, Russia imported machines and spare parts for them in the amount of 109 million rubles, while the country exported machines only in the amount of 2.14 million rubles. The Republic of Ingushetia did not export agricultural machinery at all, and imports amounted to 39 million rubles. Iron products were imported in the amount of 33 million rubles, while exports amounted to 4 million rubles.
However, the most important items of Russian imports were raw materials (not agricultural products) and semi-finished products - half of imports.
If we take only one product, and not a group, then the leader of Russian exports, of course, is grain. From 1900 to 1913, exports increased from 418 million poods to 648, in value terms from 304 million to 590 million. In fact, with proceeds from grain exports, Russia bought industrial goods and equipment for industry in the West. Moreover, despite the growth of Russian industry, Russia's import of industrial goods only increased, as did the export of raw materials. In essence, Russia's economic relations with Western countries were reminiscent of the relations of these same countries with their colonies - the Republic of Ingushetia served for Western European countries as a source of cheap raw materials and a market for their products. True, Russia was still politically independent and, in addition, although the export of industrial goods was scanty, Russian industry could find a market for its goods in the backward countries of Asia, where it successfully sold its products, without fear of competition with more advanced industrial goods Western countries.
Russia's trading partners, as in the 16th century (and in all other times), were mainly from. Per share Western Europe at the beginning of the 20th century it accounted for 83-94% of exports and 60-80% of imports. Asia's share was 7-9% in exports and 15% in imports. The share of America (mainly the USA) was insignificant and amounted to only 1% of exports and 6% of imports. However, in 1917, the US share of imports jumped 5 times to 30%. Russia's main trading partners were Great Britain and Germany - together almost half of Russia's exports and imports. With the beginning of WWII, England almost completely supplanted Germany and alone occupied almost half of Russia's foreign trade turnover.
To summarize, I note that Russia’s share in world trade was small and amounted to 4.2% in exports and 3.5% in imports.
The October Revolution and the formation of the USSR led to innovations in the field of foreign trade, the main one of which was the state monopoly on foreign trade. The purpose of foreign trade was now to provide the necessary equipment for the emerging industrialization of the USSR. Imports were supposed to ensure the export of the necessary equipment. In the 20s it was similar to the pre-revolutionary one: 55-60% were agricultural products, 40-45% were industrial products (including raw materials). But since the beginning of the 30s, the structure of foreign trade has changed radically - industrial goods have come to the fore, accounting for 60-70% of exports in the 30s. Imports, which increased sharply in mid-year. 20s fell by 33 by 3-4 times and this level remained until the start of the Second World War.
At the same time, the foreign trade activity of the USSR, compared to the Republic of Ingushetia, fell sharply. Foreign trade turnover fell (tsarist gold rubles were recalculated into Soviet ones, taking into account inflation) from 12,618 million rubles to 3,064 million rubles by the end of the 30s, i.e. 4 times. During the first stage of industrialization, when the USSR required a lot of equipment, foreign trade turnover was about 6000-7000 million rubles. In 1937, the USSR’s share in world exports was 1.3%, in imports – 1.1%
The trading partners of the USSR in the first half of the 20th century were no different from those of the Republic of Ingushetia. In particular in mid. In the 1920s, 54% of the USSR's foreign trade turnover was occupied by Great Britain, the USA and Germany. In the 1930s, the main trading partners of the USSR were the USA and Germany.
After WWII, the role of foreign trade in the USSR economy began to increase again, in addition, the USSR had its own integration economic structure(CMEA) and until the collapse of the Union, the lion's share of foreign trade fell on the CMEA countries. There was also a final transformation of USSR exports from industrial-agrarian to industrial. Now almost all exports consisted of industrial products or raw materials obtained and extracted by industrial means.
The volume of foreign trade increased over the period 1950-1986 from 2925 to 130934 million rubles. The share of CMEA countries was 60-65%, socialist countries as a whole - 66-70%. The share of Western Europe and the USA fell to 22%. However, the “European” vector of trade has been preserved.
The structure of exports, despite the successes of industrialization, remained rather based on raw materials. The share of machinery and equipment fluctuated between 12-21%, amounting to 15% by the time of perestroika. Having reached a peak in 1970 (21%), the share began to fall. But since 1970, there has been an increase in the export of fuel products and electricity, thanks to the opening of Western Siberia large oil and gas fields. As a result, in 1985, 52.7% of Soviet exports were fuel and electricity, i.e. obvious raw materials. True, the real share of fuel raw materials is somewhat less, because Electricity is still not a raw material, but nonetheless. Imports consisted mainly of machinery and equipment, consumer goods and food - in general, these groups provided more than 60% of the USSR's imports.
It is worth noting that with such negative trends that began in the 70s, the USSR was little dependent on imports, because, firstly, the economy of the USSR was initially organized in such a way as to be as self-sufficient as possible, and secondly, most imports were from the CMEA countries. It is clear that countries dependent on the USSR could neither ‘impose sanctions’ nor sell whatever they wanted, etc., which we see today in the foreign trade relations of the Russian Federation with its ‘dear partners’. And the USSR’s dependence on Western technologies is as exaggerated as its dependence on oil. It can’t be compared with current times, at least.
The USSR occupied approximately the same shares in world trade as the Republic of Ingushetia at the beginning of the 20th century - 3.8% in exports and 3.3% in imports. By 1990, thanks to perestroika, the share fell to 2.2% of world exports and 2.7% of imports.
Trade RF/RSFSR
Now . For a correct comparison, the trade turnover of the RSFSR with the rest of the republics of the Union has been added to the figures of the RSFSR.
In 1989, foreign trade of the RSFSR amounted to 242 billion rubles. , including inter-republican (145.7 billion rubles) and with non-CIS countries (96.3 billion rubles)
Exports in 1989 amounted to 122.2 billion, including 75.1 billion rubles to the Union republics, and 47.1 billion to non-CIS countries.
Imports in 1989 amounted to 119.9 billion rubles. including 70.7 billion to the union republics, 49.2 billion to non-CIS countries. In dollars, the foreign trade turnover of the RSFSR amounted to 414 billion.
For 1990, foreign trade turnover amounted to 231 billion (in dollars - 395 billion), exports - 116 billion, imports - 115 billion. Inter-republican trade - 142 billion, non-CIS trade - 89.4 billion.
Structure of imports and exports to non-CIS countries
In 1989, exports of the main product groups to the Union republics amounted to:
electric power industry – 0.5 billion rubles.
oil and gas industry – 9.2 billion rubles.
coal industry – 0.5 billion rubles.
ferrous metallurgy – 6 billion rubles. (8 %);
non-ferrous metallurgy – 3.2 billion rubles. (4.2%);
mechanical engineering and metalworking – 26.4 billion rubles.
chemical and petrochemical industry – 9.1 billion rubles.
forestry, woodworking and pulp and paper industries – 3.8 billion rubles.
construction materials industry – 1.3 billion rubles.
light industry – 7.3 billion rubles.
food industry – 2.8 billion rubles.
other industries – 2.1 billion rubles.
agriculture – 0.5 billion rubles.
other activities in the sphere of material production – 2.5 billion rubles.
Thus, in the structure of exports of the RSFSR, the first place was occupied by mechanical engineering products - 29% of exports, and fuel was in second place with 25%
Europe accounted for 68.5% of foreign trade turnover, Asia – 27%, America – 3.5%
Since 1991, there has been a collapse in the foreign trade activities of the Russian Federation. In 1994, the minimum foreign trade turnover of Russia with the CIS countries was recorded - 29.7 billion dollars. For non-CIS countries, the minimum was recorded in 1993 – $71.1 billion.
Soviet foreign trade volumes were actually covered only after 2006, and even then at current prices (without taking into account dollar inflation). True, the volume of foreign trade turnover with non-CIS countries had already recovered by the early 2000s. (FSTS statistics - http://www.customs.ru/index.php?option=com_newsfts&view=category&id=125&Itemid=1976)
From the second half of the 2000s, rapid growth in foreign trade turnover began, reaching a maximum of $844.2 billion in 2013, but after the crisis and the war in Donbass, due to which sanctions were imposed on the Russian Federation, as well as a strong drop in oil prices, foreign trade turnover has already in 2014 it fell to 783 billion, and in 2015 it completely collapsed to 526 billion dollars. In 2016, the reduction continued - turnover amounted to 467 billion, decreasing by 11% compared to 2015.
The main trading partners of the Russian Federation are EU countries - 45 and 43% in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Compared to Soviet times, trade with the former Soviet republics has dropped catastrophically - the share of CIS countries in foreign trade turnover was only 12%. Turnover also dropped in absolute numbers - 66 billion and 57 billion dollars, which is 3-4 times less than the republican trade turnover of the USSR. Russia's main trading partners are Germany (40.7 billion 8.7%), the Netherlands (32.2 billion 6.9%), China (66.6 billion 14.1%) and Belarus (23.4 billion 5%). Please note that Russia's trade turnover with China is greater than its trade turnover with the entire CIS. The old Soviet economic ties have already been practically severed; the Russian Federation has more or less economic cooperation with the former republics only with Belarus and Kazakhstan.
The distinctive ability of the transformation of Russian foreign trade is the degradation of its structure.
The share of mineral resources (mainly oil and gas) increased over the period 1997-2013 from 48% to 71%. By 2016, the share had dropped to 58%, but this was mainly due to the fall in oil prices. Exports of oil in kind (in tons) and gas condensate to the Russian Federation are constantly growing (for example, compared to 2015, it increased by 4.4% to 254 million tons)
The share of high value-added products in exports is constantly falling. Thus, by 2014, this share decreased to 3.7, compared to 7.5% in 2000. True, in absolute terms, exports of goods in this category are growing, reaching $24.3 billion in 2016. On the other hand, these numbers are still less than 1990 exports. So, 12.5 billion dollars of exports engineering products RSFSR to far abroad countries, taking into account today, would amount to 23 billion. And this is only to far abroad countries. But more equipment was exported to the Union republics.
In general, merchandise exports exceeded imports by $103.2 billion, which was due to a positive balance in the group of mineral products. Also, a positive balance was recorded for timber, precious stones and wood. All these groups are united by low added value. By selling raw materials on the foreign market, the country imports goods with high added value. The largest negative balance was recorded for machinery, equipment and vehicles - as much as 62 billion dollars. There is also a negative balance in food, despite import substitution - $7.9 billion.
In general, despite the growth in trade turnover, the presence of the Russian Federation in world trade. In 2015, the Russian Federation accounted for only 2.1% of world exports and 1.1% of world imports, which is significantly less than the share of the RSFSR even in the crisis year of 1990.
To summarize:
1) Russia as a whole did not have a noticeable influence on world trade. With a share of best years at 4% this is no wonder. Russia had a noticeable influence only in the grain market (at the beginning of the 20th century) and in the oil and gas and weapons markets (mid-late 20th century and present)
2) In general, Russia’s foreign trade has one specific direction - to buy industrial equipment and goods for raw materials to ensure the catching up development of Western countries.
3) B Soviet time, despite the stagnation of its share in world trade, it was possible to create its own intercountry market, where the country could successfully sell its products (CMEA). It is worth recognizing that the ability to find a market for one’s goods is a serious success
4) The USSR, as a whole, was a country weakly dependent on world trade. This was based on the fairly large self-sufficiency of the Soviet economy.
5) In Soviet times, exports were modernized - they turned from agricultural to industrial. Even fuel raw materials require industrial extraction, processing and transportation. This indicates the transformation of the country from an agricultural to an industrial one.
6) Exports were most balanced in Soviet times - less raw materials, more high-value products.
7) Despite all the successes, exports remained predominantly raw materials, both in the Republic of Ingushetia, in the USSR, and in the Russian Federation. Nevertheless, the USSR looks the best in this regard compared to the rest.
8) Market reforms dealt a serious blow to the country's foreign trade. The pre-reform level of foreign trade turnover was restored only in 2006, while world trade has gone far ahead, which has led to the fact that even now the Russian Federation’s share in world trade is significantly lower than it was in 1990. Russia has become completely invisible in world trade. At the same time, trade relations with the republics of the former USSR suffered the most - trade volumes decreased by 3-4 times.
9) There has been a degradation in the structure of exports - 60-70% of it consists of mineral products, mainly oil, and the share of high value-added products is only a few percent. Russia exports low-processed products and brings in goods with high added value
According to customs statistics, foreign trade turnoverRussian Federation in 2017 amounted to 584 billion US dollars and increased by 25% compared to 2016, including exports – 357 billion US dollars (an increase of 25%), imports – 227 billion dollars (an increase of 24%).
Dynamics of the most important indicators of foreign tradeRussian Federation in 2015 – 2017
In the structure of Russia's foreign trade by group of countries, the European Union (EU) occupies a special place as the largest economic partner, its share in the total volume of trade turnover of the Russian Federation in 2017 accounted for 42%, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries accounted for 31%. , to the member states of the Commonwealth Independent States(CIS) - 12%, including the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) - 9%, the countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) - 3%, the BRICS countries - 18%, the Asia-Pacific region - 32%.
Russia’s main trading partners in 2017 were: China –
15% of trade turnover of the Russian Federation (growth by 32%), Germany – 9% (by 23%), the Netherlands – 7% (by 22%), Belarus – 5% (by 26%), Italy – 4% (by 21 %), USA – 4% (by 16%), Turkey – 4% (by 37%), Republic of Korea – 3% (by 28%), Kazakhstan – 3% (30%), Ukraine – 2% (by 26 %).
Main trading partners of the Russian Federationamong non-CIS countries in 2017
Mutual trade of the Russian Federationwith states– members of the EAEU in 2017
(data in the graph is presented for 2017)
EXPORT RUSSIA.
Russia's exports in 2017 amounted to 357 billion US dollars and, compared to 2016, increased by 25% or 71 billion US dollars.
In 2017 compared to 2015-2016. In the total volume of Russian exports, the share of individual countries of the European Union decreased (in particular the Netherlands, Italy - by 2%), as well as Turkey, Japan and Ukraine - by 1%. At the same time, the share of Russian exports to the Republic of Belarus (by 1%) and China (by 3%), which took a leading position among partner countries, increased.
In 2017, the main share in the value volume of Russian exports was occupied by fuel and energy products - 59% (in 2016 - 58%), of which crude oil - 38% (37%), petroleum products - 24% (23%), natural gas – 14.5% (16%) and coal – 6% (4,5%).
The value of Russia's exports of fuel and energy products in 2017 compared to 2016 increased by 27% and amounted to 211 billion US dollars. At the same time, the physical volumes of exports of crude oil and petroleum products decreased by 1% and 5%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Among the partner countries, the largest decrease in the physical volumes of exports of petroleum products and crude oil was recorded in relation to the following countries: the Netherlands (-8 million tons), the USA (-4 million tons), Latvia (-3 million tons) and Italy
(-3 million tons). At the same time, growth was recorded from China (+4 million tons), Denmark (+3 million tons), Singapore (+2 million tons) and India (+3 million tons). Belarus and Turkey reduced purchases of crude oil (-0.5 million tons and -0.8 million tons), but at the same time increased imports of Russian petroleum products (+1.5 million tons and +1.5 million tons).
Exports of natural gas in 2017 increased to almost all major partner countries, with the exception of the UK, which reduced purchases of Russian gas by 1 billion m3, and Hungary – by 0.7 billion m3.
The increase in the value of exports of fuel and energy goods was achieved due to an increase in prices for basic fuel and energy products by an average of 24%.
In 2017, compared to 2016, non-resource non-energy exports increased in value by 22.5% to 133.7 billion US dollars, and in physical volume - by 9.8%.
The share of exports of non-commodity, non-energy goods in the total volume of Russian exports in 2017 amounted to 37.5% in value, while in 2016 it was 38.3%; in terms of physical volume, the share of these goods increased slightly compared to last year and amounted to 22 ,4%.
In 2017, while both value and physical volumes of non-resource, non-energy exports increased compared to the same period last year, there were no significant changes in its commodity structure. Structural changes amounted to no more than 1-2%.
The main non-resource non-energy exports of Russia have traditionally been:
Metals and products made from them (semi-finished products and flat rolled products from iron and unalloyed steel, unprocessed aluminum);
Machinery, equipment and vehicles (turbojet engines, fuel elements, parts for equipment for nuclear energy);
Chemical products (mineral and organic fertilizers);
Food products and agricultural raw materials (wheat and meslin). Total specific gravity these goods in the value volume of non-resource non-energy exports of Russia in 2017 amounted to 80.9%.
Exports of metals and products made from them increased by 29.7% to 35.9 billion US dollars, its share in the value of non-raw material exports amounted to 26.9% (in 2016 - 25.4%). Moreover, the physical volume of exports of metals and products made from them remained virtually unchanged compared to the same period last year (an increase of 0.4%), which is explained by an increase of 40%-45% in average export prices for semi-finished products and flat rolled iron and unalloyed steel, and also 20% for unprocessed aluminum. The share of these goods in the value of Russia's exports of metals and metal products over the last two years was 41%.
Supplies of flat rolled products to Italy, which occupied third place in the export of this product in 2016, were reoriented to Egypt in 2017, increasing compared to the same period last year by 2.2 times in weight and 3.2 times in value.
Export of machinery, equipment and Vehicle increased by 14.6% to 28.1 billion US dollars, its share in the value of non-resource exports amounted to 21.0% (in 2016 - 22.4%). The physical volume of exports of machinery, equipment and vehicles increased by 24.2%.
Exports of fuel elements decreased by 17.2%, mainly due to the cessation of supplies to India since 2017 (in 2016 their value was 163.8 million US dollars), as well as a reduction in supplies to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Armenia, and Ukraine.
The value of supplies of parts for nuclear power equipment to Bulgaria increased 356 times (from 343.9 thousand US dollars to 122.4 million US dollars). The value of supplies of these goods to Belarus has increased 6 times, while since 2017, supplies to Armenia and Poland have completely stopped.
Exports of chemical products, about 30% of which were mineral and organic fertilizers, increased by 15.0% (to 23.9 billion US dollars), its share in the value of non-raw material exports amounted to 17.9% (in 2016 - 19 .0%). The physical volume of exports of chemical products increased by 5.7%.
Exports of food products and agricultural raw materials increased by 21.5% to 20.3 billion US dollars and its share in the value of non-raw material exports amounted to 15.2% (in 2016 - 15.3%). The physical volume of exports of this category of products increased by 21.7%.
More than 37% of the value of this category of goods was grain exports.
Thus, while both value and physical volumes of non-resource, non-energy exports increased compared to the same period last year, there were no significant changes in its commodity structure in 2017. Structural changes amounted to no more than 1-2%.
IMPORT RUSSIA.
In 2017, Russian imports amounted to 227 billion US dollars and compared to 2016 increased by 25% or 45 billion US dollars.
In 2017, APEC countries became the main trading partners for imports, accounting for more than 40% of all imports. China's share in Russian imports is 21%. EU countries also occupied a significant share - 38%, of which Germany - 11%, Italy - 4%, France - 4% and others. The CIS countries accounted for 11% of all imports, including the EAEU countries - 8%, the main share was imports from the Republic of Belarus - 5% and Kazakhstan - 2%.
In 2017, the main share of the value of Russia's imports was made up of machinery, equipment and vehicles - 49% (in 2016 - 47%). Also, a significant share in imports was: chemical products - 18% (19%), food - 13% (14%), metals and products made from them - 7% (6%), textile products and shoes - 6% (6%).
In 2017, the value increase in Russian imports was 53%
due to an increase in the value of imported machinery and equipment, which in absolute terms amounted to 24 billion US dollars.
Among machinery and equipment in 2017, the largest share in the value of Russian imports was: mechanical equipment - 41% (in 2016 - 41%), electrical equipment - 24% (25%) and land transport - 20% (18%) .
In 2017, the main countries supplying imported machinery and equipment were China (26%), Germany (12%) and the USA (8%). Wherein
and the largest increase in imports of these goods also occurred
these countries, from China - by 6 billion US dollars, Germany - by 2.8 billion US dollars, the USA - by 2.6 billion US dollars.
Imports of mechanical equipment in 2017 amounted to 45 billion US dollars and increased by 28% or 10 billion US dollars compared to 2016.
This increase was due to an increase in imports computers by 1.2 billion US dollars, while the increase in imports of these goods from China amounted to 0.9 billion US dollars. These goods were also imported to
2017 from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and other countries.
The growth in imports of mechanical equipment also occurred due to an increase in the import of bulldozers and graders (2 times in quantitative terms), equipment for processing rubber and plastics, parts of computers, liquid pumps, pneumatic tools, engines internal combustion, industrial machines and equipment and others.
The import of bulldozers and graders in 2017 compared to 2016 increased by $0.8 billion, the main increase in supplies came from the import of these goods from China - 2.3 times, Japan - 1.5 times, South Korea –
3 times.
The increase in the import of rubber processing equipment is associated with the delivery in 2017 of a multi-component plant for the production of linear low/high density polyethylene worth over US$0.5 billion from EU countries.
The supply of parts for computers has increased significantly
in 2017, China - by 340 million US dollars, in smaller volumes Singapore, Vietnam and South Korea - by 100 million dollars, 7 million US dollars and 10 million US dollars, respectively.
Imports of liquid pumps in 2017 increased by 410 million US dollars, of which from South Korea - by 160 million US dollars, Germany - by
60 million US dollars and China - 50 million US dollars.
In 2017, Russian imports of electrical equipment amounted to 27 billion US dollars and compared to 2016 increased by 24% or 5.2 billion US dollars. At the same time, this 32% increase was formed due to an increase in import supplies of telephone sets for cellular communications to
US$1.7 billion. The main countries supplying these devices were China (63%) and Vietnam (17%).
Imports of ground transport equipment increased by
2017 compared to last year by 36% or by 6 billion US dollars. The increase was mainly due to an increase in imports of spare parts for passenger cars(including bodies, chassis, etc.) - by 2.6 billion US dollars, tractors - by 1 billion US dollars and freight vehicles - by 0.9 billion US dollars. At the same time, the share of passenger cars in the value volume of imports decreased significantly - from 38% to 31%, with a simultaneous increase in the share of tractors and trucks - from 11% to 17%.
An increase in the import of components for passenger cars in 2017 was registered from Germany (+34%), Japan (+52%), China (+29%), South Korea (+64%) and the Czech Republic (+52%), which is due to increasing the industrial assembly of Mazda, Toyota, Volkswagen, Skoda cars in Russia, as well as expanding their model range.
Due to the increased demand in the Russian market for special equipment, the import of goods classified by codes 8701 “Tractors”, 8704 “Trucks” and 8705 “Special-purpose vehicles” increased in quantitative terms by 1.5 times, in value terms – by 2.4 times, 1.8 times and 1.1 times, respectively. Among these vehicles, imports in value terms of truck tractors produced in the Netherlands and Germany increased by 3 times, France by 5 times, Brazil by 9 times; truck cranes made in China – 9 times, Germany – 3 times; dump trucks produced in the USA - 4 times, Belarus - 2 times.
In 2017, compared to 2016, the main value volume of imports of goods chemical industry accounted for pharmaceutical products – 27%, plastics and products made from them – 22%. These groups of goods accounted for the main increase in imports in this industry, due to pharmaceutical products - by 1.9 billion US dollars, plastics and products made from them - by 1.2 billion US dollars. At the same time, the value of imports of rubber, rubber and products made from them increased significantly - by 0.8 billion US dollars, as well as organic chemical compounds - by 0.8 billion US dollars.
In the import of pharmaceutical products, the main place is occupied by medicines, which account for 80% of the import of this group of goods. The increase in the value of imports of medicines in 2017 compared to 2016 amounted to more than 1.4 billion US dollars. The reason for this was not a physical increase in the import of these goods, but an increase in prices by an average of 16%. The main countries supplying medicines are Germany - 21%, France - 10%, Italy - 7%, India - 6%, Switzerland - 5%. In 2017, the supply of medicines increased significantly in the UK - by 0.1 billion US dollars.
The main share in the import of rubber, rubber and products made from them is occupied by tires and pneumatic tires - 48%, as well as products, tubes and tapes made of vulcanized rubber (codes 4009, 4010, 4016 HS EAEU) - 28%, natural and synthetic rubber ( codes 4001 and 4002 TN VED EAEU) – 12%. Components for repair and Maintenance cars. Natural and synthetic rubber are mainly purchased by companies involved in the production of automobile tires. In 2017, the value growth of imports for these product items amounted to more than 30%. Import purchases were carried out from China - 14%, Japan - 12%, Germany - 10%, South Korea - 7%.
Foodstuffs.
The value of food imports in 2017 amounted to 29 billion US dollars and increased by 15% or 3.8 billion US dollars compared to 2016. The largest share in the value of food was fruits - 16%, meat and meat by-products - 9%, dairy products - 9%, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks - 9%, vegetables - 6% and others.
In 2017, supplies of fruits and nuts increased significantly – by 0.8 billion US dollars; alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks – on
US$0.7 billion; dairy products, meat and meat products, vegetables - 0.4 billion US dollars each. At the same time, in terms of physical volumes of these goods, significant growth occurred only in the import of fruits, vegetables, as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The increase in value volumes for other categories of food products is mainly due to rising prices for imported products.
The import of fruits in physical terms increased due to an increase in supplies of cherries and grapes from Turkey, in respect of which restrictive measures were lifted in 2017; bananas from Ecuador; citrus fruits from South Africa.
The physical volume of imports of vegetables from China increased by 1.4 times for almost the entire product range, potatoes from Egypt - by 2.5 times, tomatoes from Azerbaijan - by 1.5 times, potatoes from Belarus - by 1.3 times, onions from Turkey - 3500 times.
Imports of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks in 2017 amounted to
2.5 billion US dollars and, compared to 2016, increased in value by 39% (by 0.7 billion US dollars), in physical volume (liters) by 29%. At the same time, an increase in the import of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks occurred for all product positions.
The main import volume in 2017 was grape wines – 40%, ethyl alcohol with a concentration of less than 80 vol.% – 38%, malt beer – 8%.
The value of the import of grape wines in 2017 amounted to 1 billion US dollars and increased in value compared to 2016 - by 38%. At the same time, the growth in physical volumes amounted to 11%. Thus, the increase in value is primarily due to an increase in prices for grape wines by 24%.
Grape wines were imported in 2017 from Italy - 29%, France - 18%, Spain - 16%, Georgia - 10%. At the same time, supplies from Italy in physical terms (liters) increased by 34%, France - by 29%, Georgia - 1.8 times. Supplies from Spain decreased in physical terms, but increased in value – by 24%.
Import of alcoholic beverages with an alcohol concentration of less than 80 vol.%
in 2017 amounted to 0.9 billion US dollars, the increase in physical volume (liters) was 30%, in value - 38%. The main volumes of imports of this category of goods came from the UK - 25%, Armenia - 19%, France - 16%, the USA and Ireland - 5% each. In 2017, compared to 2016, the UK increased the supply of whiskey by 31%, Ireland – by 36%, the USA – by 33%, and Armenia increased the import of cognac by 25%. At the same time, the import of French cognac decreased in physical volume by 5%, but increased in value by 32%.
The import of malt beer in 2017 compared to 2016 increased both in physical volume (by 50%) and in value (by 54%). The main beer supplying countries were Germany, the Czech Republic, Belarus and Belgium. Germany occupies a leading position both in terms of beer supply volumes by value (33%) and in terms of physical volumes (29%). At the same time, in 2017, Germany almost doubled its beer supplies. The Czech Republic, Belarus and Belgium also increased the physical volumes of malt beer imports by 1.5 times, 1.5 times and 1.3 times, respectively.
RUSSIAN NEW UNIVERSITY
(RosNOU)
FACULTY: Economics, Management and Finance
Abstract.
By discipline: "International relationships".
On this topic: "Russian foreign trade: structure and directions."
Completed by: 3rd year student by correspondence
Naumov's forms of education. O.V.
Accepted by: scientific supervisor
Gureeva.M.A.
Moscow 2010
Introduction
1.1 Foreign trade and its basic concepts
1.2 Purpose, principles and priorities of Russian foreign economic activity
1.3 Development of institutions for supporting foreign economic policy
Chapter 2. State and prospects of Russian foreign trade
2.1 Export and import of Russia
2.2 Prospects for Russian foreign trade
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
For centuries, foreign trade has been and is the basis of international economic relations, since the growth of world economic relations has accelerated the process of formation of the international division of labor, which connects all countries into a single economic whole. And Russia is an active participant in international trade.
Russia's main advantages continue to be its large market size and relative macroeconomic stability. But at present, Russia's competitiveness is at a level unworthy for such a country. The World Economic Forum published competitiveness ratings of 133 countries for 2009–2010. According to the Global Competitiveness Report, Russia fell from 51st to 63rd place, falling below countries such as Montenegro, Turkey, Mexico, Panama and Mauritius.
At present, trade and economic ties have largely retained their previous features. This primarily relates to the structure of trade turnover, which has not changed that much. The basis of commodity exchange operations was fuel and energy goods, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, fertilizers, and engineering products.
The chosen topic is extremely relevant, since the sphere of foreign trade provides enormous opportunities for the formation and development of the economy, the formation of the country’s budget, and maintaining the well-being of the people. Also, through foreign trade, there is a redistribution of material goods at the interstate level, thereby contributing to the development of commodity-money relations in the country under the influence of increased contacts with the foreign market.
Chapter 1. Theory of export-import operations
1.1 Foreign trade and its basic concepts
International (foreign trade) - trade with other countries, export of goods from the country and import of goods into the country. This is an ancient and traditional form of international economic relations. According to historical research, foreign trade is older than crafts and agriculture. Unlike domestic trade, foreign trade ensures the movement of goods between states, which inevitably gives rise to certain contradictions and problems arising from long distances and the time factor, differences in traditions, national money, etc.
The role of foreign trade in international economic relations has constantly increased. The growth of foreign trade was not uniform, but this did not change the general trend of its development. Many economists establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the growth of foreign trade and the growth of world production and wealth. Although this point of view is not indisputable. But relatively recently, the World Bank conducted a study of the economic growth of 40 developing countries, which were grouped by trade orientation. The results of the study confirmed the above-mentioned cause-and-effect relationship.
In general, for the period from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century. world trade developed at a fairly rapid pace - an average of 3.5% per year.
The development of foreign trade was suspended by the First World War. After the war, growth resumed, but was then interrupted by the Great Depression and World War II.
After the Second World War, foreign trade resumed and began to expand extremely rapidly. From 1947 to 1973 The volume of world exports increased annually by 6%. In the early 80s, there was some stagnation in the development of foreign trade, caused by the “oil shock”. Since 1984, the rise in foreign trade resumed and by 1990 the growth rate of world exports reached 7% per year. In general, over the past 50 years there has been a sharp, “explosive growth” in the export of goods.
If we compare the average annual growth rates of world production and world exports of goods over the past 50 years, then the growth rate of exports is 1.5 times higher than the growth rate of production. Thus, the foreign trade orientation of the world economy has increased significantly. Today, the share of imports in the total supply of finished goods on the markets has increased 3 times compared to 1950 and reached more than 20% in the USA, 30% in Germany, 30% in the UK, and more than 60% in Norway. Currently, the economy of any country in the world, if it does not pursue a policy of artificial isolation from the world market (policy of autarky), depends on participation in foreign trade.
Foreign trade is assessed using the basic concepts of exports, imports and foreign trade turnover. Export– export of goods from the country for sale or use in other countries. The economic efficiency of exports is determined by the fact that the country exports those products whose production costs are lower than world prices. The size of the winnings depends on the ratio of national and world prices of a given product. Import– import of foreign goods into the country from abroad. When importing, a country purchases goods that are currently economically profitable to produce. When calculating the efficiency of foreign trade, the economic gain that a given country receives due to the rapid satisfaction of its needs for goods through imports and the release of resources spent on the production of similar goods in the country is calculated.
The total amount of exports and imports is foreign trade turnover with foreign countries.
It should be remembered that the country’s foreign trade turnover is calculated in monetary units, since it includes heterogeneous goods that are not comparable in physical terms. For individual goods, exports and imports can be measured in natural units (pieces, tons, meters).
The balance of foreign trade can be positive or negative, and rarely goes to zero. Accordingly, we can talk about a positive or negative trade balance of the country. A negative trade balance means the occurrence of a passive trade balance. Conversely, a positive balance characterizes a country's active trade balance.
Foreign trade promotes more efficient use of both domestic resources and resources belonging to other countries, in order to more fully satisfy the unlimited needs of the population within the country abroad. Moreover, changes in net exports (the difference between exports and imports) can have a significant impact on domestic production and income levels. In the modern world economy, international trade remains of utmost importance in its scope and functions. Its main functions are:
Determining the volume and structure of world production
*development of the international division of labor
Mediation in various types international cooperation (joint production activities of market entities in different countries, international exchange of technologies, etc.).
1.2 Purpose, principles and priorities of Russian foreign economic activity
The goal of foreign economic policy is to create conditions for Russia to achieve a leading position in the global economy based on effective participation in the global division of labor and increasing the global competitiveness of its national economy.
Achieving this goal involves:
Specialization of the Russian economy in the production of high-tech products and highly processed goods, as well as in the provision of intellectual services;
Strengthening Russia's position in the world market as an exporter of agricultural products, reducing dependence on imports of agricultural products and food;
Ensuring the global competitiveness of manufacturing industries using instruments of customs and tariff policy, regulation of domestic markets, attracting foreign capital and the formation of competence centers in industries built into global value-added production chains;
Achieving a leading position in the supply of energy resources to world markets based on geographic and product diversification of exports, participation in the formation of global energy infrastructure and the development of rules for the functioning of global energy markets;
Implementation competitive advantages in the field of transport, agriculture and raw materials processing;
Strengthening Russia's role in solving global problems and shaping the world economic order;
Geographical diversification of foreign economic relations, ensuring the consolidation of the positions of Russian exporters and investors in traditional markets and the development of new markets;
Creation of a Eurasian economic space with an integration core - EurAsEC, as well as ensuring favorable conditions to establish border and interregional cooperation with the participation of constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
Building stable, diversified connections with world economic centers that increase the long-term sustainability of the development of the Russian economy;
Strengthening trade and economic relations with China, India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, ASEAN countries and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the Near and Middle East, Africa and Latin America;
Increasing the effectiveness of assistance to Russian companies and investors abroad, improving the international legal framework in foreign economic and foreign trade spheres, including in order to reduce technical barriers to trade.
The main target indicators (by year) are given in table1.
Table 1. Main target indicators of foreign economic policy until 2020 (billion US dollars)
|
2010 forecast |
2015 forecast |
2020 forecast |
||
|
Export of goods, total |
||||
|
export of fuel and energy goods |
||||
|
export of machinery and equipment |
||||
|
Import of goods, total |
||||
|
Export of transport services |
Definition
Benefits of participating in international trade
Modern theories international trade
Mercantilism
Adam Smith's Theory of Absolute Advantage
David Ricardo's Theory of Comparative Advantage
Heckscher-Ohlin theory
Leontief's paradox
Product life cycle
Michael Porter's theory
Rybczynski's theorem
Samuelson and Stolper theory
territory;
Gained benefits:
production technology, that is, the ability to produce a variety of products.
David Ricardo's Theory of Comparative Advantage
Specialization in the production of a product that has maximum comparative advantage is also beneficial in the absence of absolute advantages. A country should specialize in exporting goods in which it has the greatest absolute advantage (if it has an absolute advantage in both goods) or the smallest absolute disadvantage (if it has no absolute advantage in either product). Specialization in certain types of goods is beneficial for each of these countries and leads to an increase in total production, trade is motivated even if one country has an absolute advantage in the production of all goods over another country. An example in this case would be the exchange of English cloth for Portuguese wine, which brings income to both countries, even if the absolute costs of production of both cloth and wine in Portugal are lower than in England.
Heckscher-Ohlin theory
According to this theory, a country exports a product for the production of which it uses intensively a relatively abundant factor of production, and imports goods for the production of which it experiences a relative shortage of factors of production. The necessary conditions existence:
countries participating in international exchange have a tendency to export those goods and services for the production of which they mainly use production factors that are available in abundance, and, conversely, a tendency to import those products for which there are no factors;
the development of international trade leads to the equalization of “factor” prices, that is, the income received by the owner of a given factor;
It is possible, given sufficient international mobility of factors of production, to replace the export of goods by moving the factors themselves between countries.
Foreign trade is
Leontief's paradox
The essence of the paradox was that the share of capital-intensive goods in exports could grow, while labor-intensive goods could decline. In fact, when analyzing trade balance USA, the share of labor-intensive goods did not decrease. The solution to Leontief's paradox was that the labor intensity of goods imported by the United States is quite high, but price labor in cost product is significantly lower than in export supplies USA. Capital intensity of labor in USA significant, together with high labor efficiency, this leads to a significant impact of labor prices in export supplies. The share of labor-intensive supplies in US exports is growing, confirming the Leontief paradox. This is due to the growth in the share of services, labor prices and the structure of the American economy. This leads to an increase in the labor intensity of the entire American economy, not excluding exports.
Product life cycle
Some types of products go through a cycle consisting of five stages:
product development. Organization finds and implements a new product idea. At this time, sales volume is zero, costs grow.
Export
Export (English export) in economics is the export abroad of goods sold to a foreign buyer or intended for sale on a foreign market.
Exporting also includes the export of goods for processing in another country, the transportation of goods in transit through another country, the export of goods brought from another country for sale in a third country (re-export), etc. Indirect export is export with the participation of intermediaries.
Sources
wikipedia.org - Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia
glossary.ru - Glossary.ru
Investor Encyclopedia. 2013 .
See what “Foreign trade” is in other dictionaries:
International trade- trade between countries, consisting of export (export) and import (import) of goods and services. Foreign trade is carried out mainly through commercial transactions formalized foreign trade contracts. In English: Foreign trade See also:… … Financial Dictionary
International trade- trade of a country with other countries. International trade is the totality of foreign trade of all countries of the world. International trade is a system of international commodity-money relations, consisting of foreign trade of all countries of the world.... ... Wikipedia
INTERNATIONAL TRADE- trade of one country with other countries, an integral part of foreign economic relations. It is divided into export (export) and import (import) of goods. The sum of exports and imports forms foreign trade turnover. Foreign trade is based on international... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
INTERNATIONAL TRADE- (foreign trade) See: trade. Economy. Dictionary. M.: INFRA M, Ves Mir Publishing House. J. Black. General editor: Doctor of Economics Osadchaya I.M.. 2000. FOREIGN TRADE trade with other countries, export of goods from the country and import... ... Economic dictionary
1. The concept of foreign economic policy
Foreign economic activity is one of the fastest growing sectors of the domestic economy. It includes foreign investment, currency, customs, migration and foreign trade policies. Foreign investment includes the policy of importing foreign investment and the policy of exporting national investment. The foreign exchange policy consists of discount and reversion policies, foreign exchange subsidies and diversification of foreign exchange reserves. The activity of migration policy is to control emigration and migration into our country. Customs policy allows you to trace all cargo flows, also Customs establish various methods of regulating world trade.
International trade is the process of buying and selling between buyers, sellers and intermediaries in different countries. International trade includes the export and import of goods, the relationship between which is called the trade balance.
The meaning of inclusion in international trade is that international trade determines the continuation of the process of selling products for the domestic market. By exporting goods abroad, the country finds additional markets, ensuring full sales of the created products.
Moreover, exports can provide even greater income than sales of these products on the domestic market. By exporting products abroad, the country receives payment for this in currency, which constitutes the material basis for the purchase of any goods in other countries.
Importing goods from abroad makes it possible to obtain products that are not produced in the country at all, or those products whose domestic production costs exceed the costs associated with paying for imports. Imports of goods directly affect the physical volume and structure of the country's national income.
Foreign trade, to one degree or another, provides an additional effect for the development of any national economy. Therefore, all countries are involved in the international division of labor and commodity exchange, but the degree of inclusion of the national economy in international trade is different.
Foreign trade theories make it possible to develop, on a scientific basis, a trade strategy that meets the individual conditions and goals of a particular country and has a significant impact on international business; develop an intuitive ability to identify favorable markets.
Theorymercantilism: the wealth of a country was measured by the possession of valuables, usually in the form of gold (exports exceeded imports). Currently, the term neomercantilism is used in relation to countries that are clearly trying to have a trade surplus.
Modern theories of international trade originate from the theories of A. Smith and D. Ricardo.
A. Smith substantiated the thesis according to which the basis for the development of international trade is the difference in absolute costs of producing goods in different countries: some countries can produce goods more efficiently than others ( theoryabsolute advantage).
Some modern research, based on the theory of absolute advantage, has taken shape in theorycountry size, which takes into account the differences between countries according to their production specialization and helps explain in what volume and what type of products need to be involved in trade.
D. Ricardo belongs theoryrelative advantage. He proved not only the possibility, but also the necessity of mutually beneficial trade, even if there is an absolute advantage of one country in the production of all products: this country will gain if it abandons the less efficient in favor of the more efficient.
A modern modification of the theory of comparative costs is theoryratios of production factors. If a country is abundantly provided with some factor, for example, labor with relatively lower wages, then labor goods produced in that country will be cheaper. This model is often called the Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson model.
According to the model classificationswork force production involves not three factors, but four: skilled labor, unskilled labor, capital and land.
The leading place among neoclassical theories of international trade is occupied by modelopportunity costs G. Haberler. For each country, he proposes production possibility curves that show the ratios in which each country can produce two goods using all its resources and the best technology.
According to theorieslife cycle (LCT) by Raymond Vernon, Some products go through a four-stage cycle (introduction, growth, maturity, decline), and their production moves internationally depending on the stage of the cycle.
According to theoriessimilarities of countries, a large share of foreign trade today is trade in manufactured goods between industrialized countries because they have similar market segments.
2. Trade structure
2.1 Export
Despite the fact that the foreign economic sphere of the Russian Federation is the most growing sector of the country's economy, there are a number of problems in this sector. The main exporters and importers in our country are only a number of the most developed subjects of our federation.
The situation in the Russian export sector is characterized by a number of clearly defined trends both in the commodity structure and in the geographical focus.
As modern trends In the commodity exports of the Russian Federation, it is necessary to highlight the following:
1.The clearly expressed fuel and raw material orientation of Russian exports remains.
2. Due to the unfavorable conditions on the world markets for non-ferrous metals, the share of exports of non-ferrous and ferrous metals decreased slightly. Nevertheless, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy products remain an important item of Russian export.
3. There was also a reduction in export supplies of products from the chemical and petrochemical industries, forestry, wood processing and pulp and paper industries.
4. The focus on raw materials leads to a high dependence of Russian exports on price fluctuations on world commodity markets.
5. Russia’s international specialization in semi-finished products produced in industries that have the greatest impact bad influence on the state of the environment (metallurgical, chemical and petrochemical, pulp and paper), significantly worsened the environmental background of foreign trade.
6. The share of machinery, equipment, and vehicles is steadily decreasing.
Since the isolation of the Russian Federation and the beginning of economic reforms, certain changes have occurred in the geographical focus of Russian exports. Russia's main trading partners are the CIS countries (Belarus - 6.5%; Ukraine - 6.3%), the EU. Among non-CIS countries, the leading position is occupied by Germany - 9.7%; Italy - 5.7%; Netherlands - 5.2%; Switzerland - 3.3%; Finland - 3.2%. Russia's important trading partners are China - 6.1%; Poland-3.3%; USA - 3.7%.
In order to overcome the identified negative trends in Russian exports, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted a number of legislative acts that contribute to the formation of a rational export structure. The most comprehensive of them was the “Federal Export Development Program” dated 02/08/96, focused on manufacturing industries and envisaging an increase in the share of finished products in Russian exports to 40% in 2005. The implementation of the program, given the acute shortage of necessary financial resources in the budget, immediately came to a standstill. In the year the program was approved, a little more than 110 billion rubles were spent from the budget for the purposes envisaged in it. instead of the planned 900 million dollars. In 1997, no budgetary funds were allocated to stimulate and support exports, and the consequences of the 1998 financial crisis actually eliminated the possibility further implementation programs. But the failure of the Federal Export Development Program is explained not only by the state’s refusal to finance it. main reason the fact that in the country, as in Soviet times, problems of a general economic nature related to the restructuring of the deformed structure of the national economy, its technical re-equipment based on the achievements of scientific and technological progress and increasing the competitiveness of production were not solved.
2.2 Import
The situation in the import sector of the Russian Federation is also characterized by a number of features. The following trends are noted in the commodity structure of Russian imports:
1. The main items are machinery and equipment, food products, products of the chemical and petrochemical industries, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, consumer goods (clothing, shoes, etc.) and so on.
2. Imported machinery and equipment are intended for the textile, clothing, leather, footwear and fur industries. The need to import these goods is due to the lack of production of equipment for most civilian sectors of the economy, which creates the need for irrational imports.
3. Imports under the heading “Food” are also irrational: having enormous agricultural resources and creating a system of state support for the agricultural sector, Russia could solve the problem of food self-sufficiency.
4. There is a reorientation towards the import into the Russian market of cheaper goods of lower quality that have not found demand in industrialized countries.
Characterizing the geographical structure, it should be noted that industrialized countries account for more than half of Russian imports, developing countries account for 13%; countries of the former CMEA - 8.5%; CIS-12%.
In recent years, a lot of work has been done to form a legal framework for international cooperation between the Russian Federation and other countries: 35 international agreements have been signed with 22 countries and the EU (Russia signed a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the EU in June 1994).
2.3 Russian Federation in the global technology market
International exchange of scientific and technical knowledge for Russian enterprises and organizations lies, on the one hand, in the possibility of using world scientific and technical experience and increasing the technical level on this basis domestic production, and on the other hand, in the possibility of commercial sales of one’s own scientific and technical achievements on world markets, which, given the raw material orientation of Russian exports, is effective way rationalization of the structure of foreign economic relations.
The intellectual potential of our country is recognized as one of the highest in the world.
The indisputable advantages of the Russian Federation in the global arms and military equipment market. First of all, this applies to MiG-29 and MiG-31 fighters, SU-24 and SU-27 fighter-bombers, MI-28 and MI-34 helicopters, AN-124 transport aircraft, and tanks.
Thus, Russia, with its enormous scientific and technical potential and highly professional engineering and technical personnel, has every reason to become an equal partner of industrialized countries in the field of international scientific and technical exchange and compete with them on equal terms.
At the present stage, three main areas of scientific and technical cooperation between the Russian Federation and Western countries can be distinguished:
1.Multilateral interstate cooperation. Today our country participates in such international scientific and technical programs as Copernicus, Eureka, Intas together with the EU Commission; in the program carried out by the UNECE - "Energy saving and energy efficiency".
2. Bilateral cooperation is the main form of scientific and technical cooperation. The most developed legal framework for relations with the United States includes “Acoustic thermometry of the ocean climate”, “Study of the fundamental properties of matter”, etc. The largest volume of scientific and technical programs is being implemented with Germany, the USA, and Italy.
3. Almost all scientific and technical contacts in our country are based on direct connections: institute-institute, laboratory-laboratory, scientist-scientist, scientist-customer. Because of this, there is a "brain drain". As a rule, the most qualified and gifted scientists go abroad.
In addition, various organizations and foundations provide assistance to the development of Russian science. Thus, in the early 90s, two international organizations:
1.The Brussels Association for Stimulating Cooperation with CIS Scientists, created in July 1993, supports basic research using a system of guarantors.
2. Technical assistance to the CIS countries (TACIC, established in 1994) is financed from the EU budget. TACIS provides consulting assistance, expert assessments, transfer of know-how, etc.
At the same time, the USA, Germany, France, Japan and other industrialized countries organized various funds, stimulating scientific and technical activities in Russia and attracting leading Russian specialists for research.
3 . Methods of regulating foreign trade
The state has always sought to regulate relations in the foreign market, to use them in political purposes, matching them with foreign policy objectives. Objective laws market development are used in specific socio-political conditions. With the help of the state, an economic policy is developed that directly serves the interests of certain social forces. Its organic integral part is foreign trade policy as a system of government measures to regulate and manage foreign trade activities.
There are two main types of foreign trade policies:
1.Freetrading.
2.Protectionism.
Free trade policy means that the state uses a system of trade and political measures that allow the free export and import of goods. But this does not mean the absence of a regulatory role for the state. The state is pursuing a conscious policy to create favorable conditions in the domestic market for imported goods without significant restrictions. imported goods. Supporters of market conservatism defended freedom of trade, because it embodies all laws market economy in its original form, self-regulation of economic relations. Free trade stimulates competition and limits monopoly. Freedom to import products from abroad is powerful competition for their own production, forcing manufacturers to reduce production costs and make full use of the achievements of scientific and technological progress.
In contrast to free trade, there is another type of foreign trade policy - protectionism.
It is characterized by the presence of significant import restrictions and is aimed at protecting national production from competition from cheaper foreign goods.
The main reasons for following protectionist policies:
1. Preservation of industries necessary for the state that provide military-political and economic security countries.
2.Protecting young industries from the destructive effects of foreign competition.
3. Ensuring stable employment in the national economy.
The choice of the type of foreign economic policy should actively contribute to strengthening the country’s position in the system of world economic relations. It is precisely this task that today must be subordinated to the mechanism of state regulation of Russia’s foreign economic relations. Should be provided optimal combination freedom of trade and protectionism, taking into account the specifics of the state of its economy and the potential of world economic relations.
The experience of recent years has shown that the interpretation of free trade as accelerated liberalization (this is how it is viewed in the course of Russian reforms) can and is already leading to negative consequences: reduction of domestic industrial potential; destruction of industries and individual enterprises; conservation of imbalances in the structure of the national economic complex; increasing financial and technological dependence on industrialized countries; a decrease in the “quality” of the structure of domestic exports and imports; loss of part of the domestic market by national producers, etc.
With trade liberalization, a decrease in employment may occur in the short term due to weakening incentives for the development of both import-substituting industries and, possibly, industries that are not directly involved in foreign trade, but may depend on liberalization processes. And even a sharp increase in employment in the export sector cannot immediately compensate for its decline in other areas. Export-oriented enterprises do not have time to absorb the waste released from other sectors labor, for example, due to the lag of new investments or slow professional reorientation and limited mobility of labor resources.
The implementation of the free trade model in its pure form in transition economies is difficult. Post-socialist countries entered into competition in the world market under unequal conditions compared to developed countries. The experience of implementing this model in some developing countries has shown that the result of such a strategy is the preservation of the dependent position of national economies, the outflow of investment and qualified personnel.
However, it should be noted that the weakening of protectionism in these countries, expressed in the creation of equal conditions for importers and exporters, in the reduction of foreign trade restrictions and the use of the price mechanism instead of arbitrary decisions of the bureaucratic apparatus, led to an increase in GDP growth rates, which was the result of the redistribution of resources to more efficient production. Thus, in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, after the start of economic reform and liberalization of foreign trade, the annual GDP growth amounted to 5-6%, and foreign trade - 9-10%.
To regulate foreign trade, the state uses methods that can be divided into tariff (customs tariffs) and non-tariff (quotas, licenses, subsidies, dumping). Protectionism is often implemented to supplement government revenues. Customs duties are easier to collect than taxes, but budget revenues in this case will depend on the elasticity of demand for imports. However, the more elastic demand is, the more government revenue increases as protectionism weakens. Almost always, the policy of protectionism pursued by one state causes a response from others. Economic contradictions between countries can worsen and lead to negative consequences for each of them, in particular, to a deterioration in the balance of payments of a particular country.
Due to the peculiarities of the economic situation and traditions in the field of government regulation, Russia has to resort to both tariff restrictions and non-tariff restrictions - quotas and licensing. In fact, this means pursuing a policy of fairly strict protectionism, which is reflected in the mechanism of administrative control of foreign trade activities, in methods of stimulating exports and import substitution, in foreign exchange regulation and control.
By purposefully applying customs duties and other protectionist measures, the state can stimulate the development of certain sectors of the economy, weakening competition from foreign goods. However, this protection can also have the opposite effect. By protecting the manufacturer with excessively high barriers (customs or other), it can deprive him of the incentive to improve production and reduce costs, which ultimately leads to the preservation of technical backwardness. Such a policy will not benefit either the Russian national economy as a whole, or the overly protected industries themselves.
A clear example is the situation at VAZ. The introduction of practically prohibitive duties on imported cars in the fall of 1993 allowed automakers to raise prices for their products, which were far from being of the best quality, to a critical level. At the same time, the plant exported cars at prices lower than domestic ones, making significant profits in the face of the constant depreciation of the ruble, which, however, was not aimed either at reconstructing production or at producing new, competitive models, samples of which were exhibited in car showrooms. The growth of the ruble exchange rate, and later the introduction of a currency “corridor” led to the fact that the imaginary advantages were lost, and VAZ found itself in an extremely difficult economic situation and was forced to temporarily suspend production.
Strengthening protectionism has a negative impact on the development of industries based on imported technologies, raw materials, semi-finished products, and components. The increase in duties ultimately benefits a small part of domestic producers, who, becoming a kind of monopolist, begin to dictate prices for products that are not of world-class quality. Protected industries lose incentive to improve production. All this leads to a narrowing of the market, deterioration in the quality of goods and rising prices.
Modern trade policy has, in addition to a defensive arsenal, an offensive arsenal of measures to expand national exports, which are carried out using a wide range of means of directly subsidizing the export of agricultural goods, stimulating production, research and development, providing various services to the exporter, allocating various types of subsidies at the expense of the budget and state funds, tax and insurance benefits, the provision of loans and government guarantees for them, etc. It is here that the center of gravity in the foreign economic policy of developed countries has shifted: the assistance of government organizations in expanding the export of domestic goods has become one of the most important areas of state activity in the economic field. The main attention is paid to measures to support the export of finished products, strengthening the country’s position in the world market in the long term.
In recent years, Russia has had a positive trade balance, but this cannot serve as evidence of the effectiveness of its trade policy. It was practically the result of low growth rates of imports, as well as active exports of non-renewable natural resources, primarily energy raw materials. For a long time, Russian exports were limited on the basis of quantitative restrictions (quotas and licenses), which largely occurred under pressure from central and local bureaucratic structures that did not want to part with the levers of control over foreign trade that had been established in Soviet times. The last restrictions in the form of quotas and duties on a number of goods were abolished only in 1995.
The absence in Russia of a number of legislative acts necessary for the normal functioning of foreign trade has led to the widespread use of so-called operational regulation measures, meaning the desire to solve emerging problems with the help of “fire” measures, often ill-considered measures caused by the circumstances of a particular moment. The use of such ill-considered measures often leads to drastic steps on the part of counterparty states.
4. Prospects for the development of foreign trade of the Russian Federation
The current Russian government shows no interest in the idea of restructuring the country's foreign economic specialization. Finance Minister A. Kudrin, for example, is convinced that over the next 50-100 years natural resources will prevail in domestic exports.
In the long-term forecasts of the Ministry economic development and trade, however, it is indicated that by 2015 the share of fuel and energy industries in domestic exports should decrease to 43%.
An analysis of the state and forecasts for the development of individual sectors of the national economy suggests that changes in the nature of Russia’s participation in world economic relations are insignificant. But in the medium term, foreign economic specialization can be diversified, relying on natural factors (forests, fertile lands, etc.). Also, high technologies in the defense industry, basic science, etc. could make a certain contribution. Such diversification could help strengthen the country’s position as an exporter and reduce its import dependence.
The qualitative state of foreign trade is due to the fact that the country's economy is at the stage of development of competition. In this regard, it is vital for Russia to expand its sources of competitive advantage to include investment and innovation. Depreciation of fixed assets in industry is 52.7%, and their renewal rate is 1.7%. With such funds, it is very difficult to produce competitive products.
One of the most important conditions for increasing competitiveness is the rapid growth of investments in manufacturing industries and the agricultural sector. To modernize the economy, a huge amount of capital investment is required - more than 2 trillion. dollars over the next 20 years. Although in recent years the volume of investment has increased by 10.6% per year, this is not enough.
It seems very important to establish mechanisms for transforming savings into investments and intersectoral flow of capital. Purely theoretically, the mobilization of resources for investment and their redistribution can be carried out entirely or in a certain share through three institutional structures - the state (with an appropriate level of taxation), large financial and industrial groups and financial markets. It is obvious that the state cannot now dominate in the transformation of savings into investments, since it mobilizes only part of the resources available in the economy for centralized distribution. Large domestic financial-industrial groups are, in principle, capable of large-scale attraction of investor funds, but cannot take control of the entire volume of savings and cover all categories of depositors, primarily the population, which treats oligarchic structures with persistent distrust.
Theoretically, financial industrial groups could become an instrument for intersectoral capital flows, but in practice this possibility is essentially crossed out by the principles that prevail in the activities of Russian corporations. These principles are to extract maximum profit from existing tangible assets to the maximum extent possible. short time and using a smaller part of this profit to maintain production, and most of it for transformation into financial assets and dividends.
In addition, it should be taken into account that the flow of capital is hampered by the lower level of profitability in the finishing industries compared to the extractive and primary processing industries. According to official data, the profitability of products and assets in the extractive industries is many times higher than the profitability in the manufacturing industry. With such different levels of profitability, entrepreneurs in more profitable industries, in which today domestic capital is mainly concentrated, have no incentive to invest in other industries and invest in projects that will be less profitable.
Financial markets in Russia - credit and stock, unfortunately, are not yet sufficiently developed: the first due to the weakness of the banking system, the second due to the small number of well-functioning companies whose shares could be of interest to capital investors. Therefore, strengthening financial markets- the most important condition for solving the problem of bringing together the volumes of savings and accumulation. In order to intensify the investment process, some believe it is necessary, following the example of other countries, to organize the activities of state development banks. These banks could finance investments in fixed capital due to the overwhelming majority of domestic savings concentrated in them or the credit resources of the Central Bank. Other economists see an investment resource in the use of money emission tied to the volume of government borrowing on the domestic market. They propose to direct these funds only to high-tech industries, mainly to the military-industrial complex.
It is possible that these measures may initially give a certain impetus to an increase in investment. In addition, as the practice of Russian enterprises using foreign loans shows, there is a high probability that borrowers will strive to avoid repaying the loans received and shift debt payments onto the shoulders of the state. Therefore, it would be more rational to stimulate the private sector to make industrial investments in high-tech industries by providing investment incentives and subsidizing bank lending rates.
An equally important task is to intensify the use of the innovation factor on the basis of the targeted development of the scientific and technical sphere. Russia has certain opportunities to compete in the global market. These areas include education, culture, fundamental science and design developments. At the same time, the export of know-know should occur on a mutually beneficial basis, allowing for the joint exploitation of certain developments carried out in our country. One of the options for this direction should be active introduction into the markets of developing countries, where it is possible to ensure sufficient high level competitiveness and quality of a number of products and technologies (aerospace, microbiological, educational) when carrying out adequate pricing policy.
Finally, a transition to a fundamentally new export model is possible, when future exports from our country will be financed by partners in the world market within the framework of fairly stable and long-term programs. Investments in R&D, in education based on our existing potential, in the development of environmentally friendly technologies can ensure the future export of our results.
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