In mid-February, the head of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, Alexei Rakhmanov, told RIA Novosti, that the first serial frigate of the project 22350 "Admiral Fleet Kasatonov" will be handed over to the Russian Navy in the first quarter of this year. March ends, but St. Andrew's flag over the new frigate is not yet visible.
new age habits
It's time to get used to it. In recent years, it has become a rule to postpone publicly announced deadlines for the completion of construction projects.. And with the frigate "Admiral Flota Kasatonov". It has already been promised several times to be transferred to the fleet. Before that they called the end 2019 of the year.
Meanwhile,, the frigate has been on the water for almost six years, and its construction stretches from 2009 of the year. Is it a lot or a little? A ship of a completely different class comes to mind - a heavy nuclear missile cruiser of the project 1144 "Orlan" "Admiral Nakhimov".
It was built in Soviet times in five and a half years. Now the cruiser is being modernized at the Severodvinsk Sevmash. The active phase of work is going on here with 2013 of the year. Their completion dates were different.. Now they say: "Admiral Nakhimov" will be handed over to the fleet by the end 2021 of the year. Even if we accept this term as final, obtained, the cruiser will stay at the shipyard for more than three years more, what was built. Comparison, as we see, not for our time.
Similar examples can be found not only in shipbuilding., but also in other branches of engineering - basic in the industry of the country. The nineties taught us to, that Russia has largely lost its engineering, volumes dropped sharply. And indeed it is.
The share of the Soviet Union passed 20% world industrial production. The Russian Federation did not go into international accounting separately at that time, but now the Association of German machine builders and manufacturers of industrial equipment in its analytics puts Russia on 23 place - after Singapore, Finland and Czech Republic.
Can, of course, complain about the bias of German experts, this, that they estimate the volumes of engineering products in euros, rather than purchasing power parity. However, there are other objective criteria, and they are not in favor of Russia.
So, the share of mechanical engineering in the industry of the USSR was about 40%. In developed countries, this figure today is in the range 30-50%. In Russia, mechanical engineering accounts for 15-20% total industrial output.
We have lost?
According to expert estimates, during the post-Soviet period in Russia, the production of grain harvesters decreased by 11 time, wheeled tractors 15, excavators - in 17, forage harvesters 20, bulldozers in 29, caterpillar tractors - in 270 time.
This is only one part of engineering products. She is the most sensitive for the country, because it is related to food production. The order of numbers here is: in Germany on 1 000 ha of arable land 64 tractor, in the USA - 25, In Canada - 16, in Belarus - nine. In Russia there are only three…
AT 2017 year, when we got a record in 134 million tons of grain harvest, the Ministry of Agriculture calculated: there is still order left on the unharvested fields 10 million tons. Actually money, labor of farmers, investment programs were buried in the ground. The reasons for this are different - weather conditions, someone's sloppiness. But the main thing is the lack of cleaning equipment, which was directly associated with failures in domestic agricultural engineering.
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Heavy engineering also suffered serious losses., civil aircraft construction, production of construction equipment and others. Better things in transport engineering. There's a fall here, eg, in truck manufacturing, trolleybuses, large class buses, railway wagons, etc..
But the production of passenger cars has risen. It approached 2 million units against 1,3 million throughout the USSR. At the same time, skeptics talk about the large volume of assembly of imported models. (72%), but this is already the reality of globalization that has taken over the world.
For the best share
Nuclear engineering can be included in the asset of the new Russia. It is now at the forefront of the world. Makes the most advanced nuclear reactors, including, on fast neutrons, which are nowhere, except Russia. During the post-Soviet period, Russian nuclear scientists have included two dozen reactors in the power grid. Of these, seven are abroad. Eight more power units are under construction there..
This is the most demanded export asset of civil engineering in Russia. He is more, than in other industries, complies with policy, заявленной президентом в прошлогоднем Послании к Федеральному собранию. Then Vladimir Putin set the industrialists the task of increasing the export of high value-added products..
This matter is not easy. Western countries and China are not very disposed to buy products of Russian machine builders. Although its best examples are quite consistent with the world level, and even surpass it. This applies not only to nuclear reactors, but also to industrial robots, hydraulic presses, promising grain harvesters, freight locomotives and other equipment.
The focus on exports is caused by the desire of the authorities to increase foreign exchange earnings at the expense of non-commodity goods and replenish the country's reserves. The intention is commendable. However, the sustainability of the economy also depends on, to what extent machine building satisfies domestic demand. World experience determines this indicator at the level 70%. Moreover, the proportion of own elements in the product should be 40-60%.
The Soviet Union met these parameters and even exceeded them.. Russia still does not reach such criteria. Our internal demand is met by machine builders for just 30-35% with a share of own elements in 25-30%. So you need to grow not only in breadth (for export), but also deep into and oust foreign partners from the domestic market.
And for starters, it’s a good idea to put things in order with the discipline of deliveries, fulfillment of contracts and public promises. To have less embarrassment, as with the statement on the timing of the transfer of the said frigate.
Gennady Granovsky
