Participants of the Import Substitution Forum, held as part of the Russian Business Week of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE), shared their experience in finding alternative suppliers under sanctions.
For example, Andrey Grachev, Vice President for Federal and Regional Programs at Norilsk Nickel, spoke about the company's strategy in this regard. For its largest environmental project, the Sulfur Program, the company uses mainly Russian equipment and technologies, and in 2022 it substituted 132 items of critical equipment.
He also noted that in order to find alternative suppliers and manufacturers, Nornickel held an import substitution forum in Norilsk with a hundred of the largest companies in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. In particular, it signed a partnership agreement with BELAZ for the production of mining equipment.
Norilsk Nickel also uses non-standard solutions, such as 3D printing and reverse engineering using 3D scanning of the finished product.
"The isolation of Russian business from the international perimeter has become a catalyst for the transformation of corporate governance, and it forced businesses to reconsider strategies and adapt to new realities. We see this not only as limitations, but also as opportunities," Grachev noted.
Despite the fact that sanctions have accelerated the development of Russian products and the development of ties between market participants, 53% of Russian industrial enterprises have not yet found replacement suppliers by 2024.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
