Expert on development of Union State technological independence: the West will soon realise it has created competitor for itself

By the beginning of this year, 18,772 restrictive measures were introduced against Russia, and 1,454 against Belarus – covering trade, the financial system, banks, companies and individuals. Among the most painful ones were the bans on imports of foreign technologies, machinery and equipment. In his talk with sb.by, Mikhail Kovalev, a doctor of physical and mathematical sciences and professor at the Belarusian State University’s Department of Analytical Economics and Econometrics, explained how the Union State members are coping with these challenges of the time.

“The bans on imports of high technologies have become particularly painful,” the Honoured Figure of Sciences of Belarus, noted. “However, imports of investment goods to Belarus were not so great (about $4bn), and they are successfully replaced by other countries, i.e. China: there is no equipment in the world that Chinese do not produce, we just knew little about that. Moreover, any business strives for profit, therefore imports from the EU, which sank by about 10 percent in 2022, exceeded the pre-sanction level in 2023 (according to their statistics) to reach $8.8bn. However, imports aimed at Russia (for example, of passenger cars) accounted for a significant share,” Mr. Kovalev said.

The expert added, “Importantly, sanctions on high technologies have forced the Union State to finally realise what technological independence is, and why components should not be bought from unreliable sellers: it is better to produce them within the Union State. Therefore, the measures taken and the Russian financing of high-tech production will create an innovative breakthrough similar to the space-related one in the USSR times. In 5-10 years, the West will realise that it has created another competitor for itself. I am convinced that the sanctions-related problems will inspire Russians and Belarusians to revive Soviet technological leadership. At present, oil-generated money is used not to buy luxurious yachts, but to develop high technologies. Moreover, our states have always had enough smart specialists. In general, the EU's actions have shown a very low level of European officials to predict the consequences of sanctions: as a result, the European Union has punished itself more than Russia, especially strategically.”