A window of opportunity in international markets is open for domestic producers
More and more Russian companies are developing their foreign economic activities. How else? The country needs to increase export revenues and somehow stabilize them. The export support infrastructure created in Russia thanks to the national project “International Cooperation and Export” helps entrepreneurs enter international markets. Its mission is priority support for non-resource and non-energy exports. In the new conditions, we are talking primarily about trade in the markets of friendly countries and a new export geography. Exporters have access to a variety of government support tools — from assistance in placing goods on foreign marketplaces to demonstration and tasting pavilions of the agricultural sector abroad. How and where should local producers grow? About this — in the material «MK».
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Thanks to the national project “International Cooperation and Export”, the number of exporters among small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) increased by 60% — to 83 thousand. Such data for 4 years of its implementation (from 2020 to 2023) are provided by the Russian Export Center (REC). State support measures help Russian businesses expand their export geography and find foreign partners in friendly countries. 
“Technological sovereignty projects should become the engine for the renewal of our industry, helping the entire economy reach advanced levels of efficiency and competitiveness. I propose setting a goal here: the share of domestic high-tech goods and services in the domestic market over the next six years should increase by one and a half times, and the volume of non-resource, non-energy exports by at least two-thirds,” President Vladimir Putin noted in his message to the Federal Assembly.< /p>
Meanwhile, according to the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, the volume of non-resource non-energy exports (NNE) from Russia at the end of 2023 amounted to $146.3 billion. The Russian Export Center group supported about 24 thousand companies in 2023.
For exporters, there is a digital platform “My Export”, which allows you to receive services in the field of foreign economic activity in one online window. The platform helps entrepreneurs prepare the necessary documents, search for potential clients, receive advice and learn new competencies. This includes working with marketplaces and, importantly, the opportunity to apply for government support measures.
The number of registered companies on the My Export platform increased by 12 thousand in 2023. Now the ecosystem is used by more than 30 thousand legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.
Without support, small companies would not have been able to cope with the difficulties that arose: it is very difficult to enter international markets in conditions of geopolitical turbulence. But even from the most difficult situation you can find a way out. The entrepreneur told MK what problems he had to face and what role government assistance played in solving them.
Founded in 1999, the family enterprise “Family Textiles” produces and exports more than 80 types of pillows with bolsters and partitions for various ways of lying. 
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“Thanks to the help of the Russian Export Center and the Central Export Center of the Novosibirsk Region, we have achieved significant results in export development. The availability of necessary information upon request, the possibility of training and support by curators in field research have become an incentive for the development of our exports. The “Made in Russia” program prompted us to reconsider the entire production process of our products. We have restructured and now our main focus is on exports,” said company manager Sergei Zagulyaev. At the end of 2023, the company concluded 9 export contracts for a total amount of 69.1 million rubles.
To enter the “Made in Russia” promotion program, the company must undergo a voluntary certification procedure for products, works (services). The important thing is that Russian goods are promoted not under specific brands, but with the help of a single “umbrella” brand “Made in Russia” with a “bird” logo, which is already well known to many foreign consumers.
The government’s strategic initiative “Electric Car and Hydrogen Car” is aimed at developing the market for electric cars and charging infrastructure in Russia. Its goals by 2030: production of at least 10% of electric vehicles in the total production of vehicles in Russia; commissioning of more than 1 thousand hydrogen filling stations and more than 72 thousand charging stations for electric cars.
Thus, the Yaroslavl company Advanced Energy has created a charging station for electric vehicles based on a hybrid gas piston unit, capable of generating electricity with virtually zero impact on the environment. The new product has already been presented at an industry exhibition in the UAE. The project was also presented to potential partners in Kazakhstan at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum.
This is an infrastructure project created on the basis of Russian, including Yaroslavl, components, fully prepared for integration into the system of gas filling stations. The developers are confident that with its implementation in the country, the demand for electric vehicles may increase sharply.
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In the international market, products of Russian developers have a steady demand and there are prospects for increasing exports ready-made solutions and services in the field of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The national project “Unmanned Aircraft Systems” is aimed at developing the production of such civil-use devices and unmanned technologies.
Thus, the Aeromax company from Moscow has developed a model of an unmanned civil aircraft with a take-off weight of 3000 kg. The SH-3000 will have increased payload capacity and unique flight, technical and operational characteristics that will allow the drone to be used in almost all climatic and geographical conditions. The maximum payload will be up to one ton.
Entrepreneurs and everyone else will be able to learn about the available state support measures at Export Day, which will be held on May 10 at the International Exhibition and Forum “Russia” at VDNKh (75th pavilion).