Russia needs full sovereignty in microelectronics. The President has set the task of almost doubling the production of electronic products in six years. However, it is pointless to catch up with market leaders, according to the government. Russia will have to win back its special place in this market. Where is Russia making progress, and what does it have to buy abroad?
Russia will have to go through a difficult path to gaining full sovereignty in microelectronics. If we repeat the steps of the leading countries, it is unlikely that Russia will be able to catch up with them. For significant achievements, we need extraordinary ideas and solutions, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at the plenary session of the Microelectronics 2025 forum.
We cannot cope without government support in this area. The government will compensate for the cost difference between domestic and imported components at the initial stage of production development. This is necessary because Russian components are often significantly more expensive than imported counterparts due to lower production volumes, said Denis Manturov, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Anton Alikhanov, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, spoke about plans to subsidize preferential loans for the purchase of a Russian electrical component base by up to 10%.
Despite the sanctions, the industry has stepped forward. The volume of production in the Russian microelectronics segment has doubled in five years and reached 3.4 trillion rubles. This year, it is expected to exceed the 3.5 trillion mark. The President set a goal to bring the output of the electronic industry to 6.6 trillion rubles in six years, that is, to almost double. This will meet the needs of 70 percent of the country's residents, Mishustin says. The development of the domestic electronics industry is a strategic area for the Russian Federation, he confirmed.
The product portfolio of microelectronics solutions has expanded to 36,000 positions, whereas in 2020 there were several times fewer in the portfolio – only 2.5 thousand solutions.
Hundreds of billions are being invested in the industry. For example, approximately 170 billion rubles have been allocated from the budget for the development of new positions over the past 10 years. Thanks to them, more than 500 projects have been launched to create critical electronic components and hardware and software systems, Mishustin said.
In general, over the past three years alone, over 300 billion rubles have been invested in the electronic industry. In 2025, more than 100 billion rubles have been allocated. The development of the industry also requires highly qualified personnel. More than 3,500 jobs will be created in the industry next year alone.
However, development in the industry is not easy.
"In Soviet times, microelectronics developed within the framework of a single national economic complex. Production was distributed across the republics. The division of this system in the 1990s dealt a catastrophic blow to the industry. After the 1990s, a global trend prevailed: not to produce everything at home, but to integrate into global value chains.",
– says Anastasia Medvedeva, a researcher at the Educational and Scientific Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence, Neurotechnology and Business Analytics of the Russian University of Economics. Plekhanov.
"Microelectronics is actually developed in a few countries of the West and East, as it requires large investments. Therefore, a number of countries are purchasing imported electronics, while they themselves have focused on those sectors of the economy where the country has competitive advantages, for example, tourism, mining, winemaking, cheese making, etc. This is rational from the point of view of a market economy and international trade, but it does not take into account differences between countries, sanctions, etc.," says Leonid Delitsyn, analyst at Finam.
So Russia hoped for imports then. We have certainly made progress since the sanctions, but it is not easy. "The difficulty lies in systemic dependence, which cannot be overcome quickly. All factors – technology, personnel, money – are interconnected. There is a lag in the technical processes. The world's leading manufacturers (TSMC, Samsung) massively produce chips with 3-2 nm technology processes. And Russian plants (Micron, Angstrom) are only mastering 90-65 nm with a prospect of 28 nm. The generation gap is huge," says Medvedeva.
There is also a market problem – our products are many times more expensive. For example, a domestic microprocessor with performance similar to an imported one 5-10 years ago may cost two to three times more expensive, Medvedeva says.
The price of Russian products is higher due to several factors at once. "Firstly, these are small production batches and, as a result, high cost. Secondly, outdated lines: These are 200 mm plates instead of 300 mm, which give more losses and less yield of usable crystals. Thirdly, there is a high proportion of imported consumables, and some of the equipment has to be purchased using complex schemes with extra charges. The fourth factor is limited access to modern EDA (electronic design software), which makes design more expensive and longer," says Vladimir Chernov, analyst at Freedom Finance Global.
"Semiconductor manufacturing is an extremely complex process involving more than a thousand procedures at the design, manufacturing, assembly, testing and packaging stages. These stages, in turn, depend on a complex global ecosystem of resource providers, from chemicals to software.
For example, some integrated circuits require up to 500 special chemicals to produce. Some of these steps in semiconductor production are performed by a small number of companies and economies. The United States, Japan, and Taiwan are countries that have largely concentrated this market. Therefore, the idea of compensation between our and imported components is what needs to be done to allow the industry to develop," says Antonina Levashenko, head of the Gaidar Institute's Laboratory for the Analysis of Best International Practices.
According to market participants, a domestic chip can cost 30-70% more than its imported counterpart. In some niches, especially where mass-produced products on mature nodes (such as controllers or memory) are required, the difference can be up to twofold. That is why the Ministry of Industry and Trade introduces a compensation mechanism, otherwise serial orders for Russian ECB simply will not go, because customers are price-oriented, says Chernov.
Russia has areas where things are going very well.
"Microelectronics for the defense and aerospace industries are doing well. For example, there are chips that can work in conditions of cosmic radiation, which is a very difficult task.
Enterprises such as NIIME and Micron, which produce a series of Komit chips, are leading here," said Medvedeva.
Russia can boast of specific products: radiation-resistant microprocessors for spacecraft, domestic FPGAs that are already used in Defense Ministry communication systems, and microcontrollers for civilian applications, such as chips for Mir bank cards, the expert adds.
"Things are going well in Russia, primarily in the development of logic integrated circuits (ICS) and memory chips. Also in the production of discrete semiconductor devices, analog ICS, optoelectronics, sensors (DAO)," says Levashenko.
However, Russia has to purchase modern lithography, high-precision metrology, and some chemistry/photoresistors from friendly countries or is looking for workarounds. And we still do not have our own production of 300 mm substrates and parts of materials for nodes less than 65 nm," says Chernov.
Most likely, we will not catch up with world leaders, but will focus on those areas where our own solutions are most needed – solutions for communications, energy, transport and defense industries, Delitsyn agrees.
Chernov identifies three areas for development. First, the focus is not only on reducing nanometers, but also on alternative approaches, such as advanced packaging, multi-chip assemblies, and system integration with "chiplets." This way, Chernov believes, will allow for increased productivity and functionality of products without huge investments in lithography.
"The second direction is the widespread implementation of the RISC–V architecture, where there are no licensing restrictions. If the government creates an entire ecosystem around this architecture, from IP core libraries to application software and serial orders, then Russia will be able to build its own school of processor engineering, independent of Western licenses. Additionally, it is worth betting on promising materials, for example, silicon carbide and gallium nitride for power electronics in demand in transport, energy and renewable sources," says the source.
Finally, the key to breakthrough lies in people. Without mass training of process engineers, CAD programmers and design specialists, any investments in equipment will be empty, so the country needs targeted personnel programs, concludes Chernov.
Olga Samofalova
