Collapse of plants and factories: Russia is experiencing the deepest industrial crisis since 1998
26 December 20:16
Russian industry is experiencing a serious crisis due to a combination of sanctions, high lending rates, and a general economic slowdown. The Moscow Times writes about this with reference to a survey conducted by the Institute of Economic Forecasting (INP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
What is known
According to a survey conducted by the Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Russian Academy of Sciences, top managers of the country’s largest enterprises assess the current demand for their products as the worst since 1998, the time of the Russian default.
Sales estimates have broken through the lows of 2009 and 2015, when the country was experiencing the global financial crisis and the first sanctions after the annexation of Crimea. Production plans of enterprises fell to their lowest level in 16 years, and the industrial optimism index fell to its lowest level since 2009.
Russia’s GDP growth rate has almost stopped
Despite many years of budgetary injections into mega-projects and defense enterprises, Russia’s GDP growth rate has almost stopped, and the industry has slipped into recession. According to the Federal State Statistics Service, in November, production fell by 0.7% year-on-year. Metallurgy (-4.1%), machine building (-5.4%), chemical industry (-1.7%), and food production (-0.8%) suffered the most.
Collapse of certain industries
Some industries experienced near-collapse: production of tractors fell by 61.6%, bulldozers by 53.7%, elevators by 37.2%, and passenger railcars by half. The auto industry fell by 34.1%, returning to its worst performance since 2022.
