Russia intends to create and expand technological alliances with other countries, President Putin said. Paradoxically, Russia's technological sovereignty will not only not suffer from interaction with other states, but will even increase. However, under certain conditions. Which ones, and which countries is it best for Russia to cooperate with?
In recent years, the Russian industry has gone through a very tough test. Supply chains were being disrupted, foreign companies were leaving, and there were problems with components, equipment, software, calculations, and logistics. Under these conditions, the true value of technological sovereignty has become apparent: that is, the country's ability to produce critically important products itself and manage its own production chains.
At the same time, sovereignty is not equal to self-isolation. At the 10th Congress of the Union of Machine Builders, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that the country intends to expand mutually beneficial technological alliances with other states.: "We're not going to shut ourselves in."
Indeed, in the modern world, no large economy produces absolutely everything only within its borders. The question is different: the country should enter into international cooperation not as a dependent buyer, but as a partner with its own competencies. Not just to purchase machine tools, electronic components, or software solutions, but to offer other countries their machines, equipment, engineering schools, digital platforms, materials, service, and staff training.
It's one thing to sell a separate machine, device, or industrial installation abroad. Entering into a joint project where the Russian side helps to set up production, trains specialists, supplies equipment, software, components and provides further maintenance is quite another. In the first case, the Russian company remains a regular supplier. In the second case, it becomes part of the partner country's industrial ecosystem.
This format is especially important in conditions of political pressure. The simple sale of Russian products may become the object of sanctions, restrictions, and threats to banks, carriers, insurance companies, or the end customer. But if we are not talking about a one-time supply, but about production cooperation, it is much more difficult to break ties. Jobs, localized production facilities, trained specialists, service infrastructure, and related suppliers are emerging in the partner country.
There is a common industrial interest. In such a situation, external pressure is already hitting not only the Russian exporter, but also the partner's economy.
An important conclusion follows from this: it is more profitable for Russia to build technological alliances primarily with those countries that have a sufficient level of political and economic sovereignty. That is, they are able to make long-term decisions based on their own interests, and not just out of fear of external sanctions. The more independent a partner is, the higher the chance that a joint project will withstand political turbulence.
What are the most promising countries in Russia to establish technological cooperation with? The first obvious direction is countries that need technological independence themselves. These are India, China, the EAEU states, the BRICS countries, and some of the countries of the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.
Many of them have ambitions to develop their own industries, energy, transport, space, mining, agricultural machinery, medicine and digital infrastructure. They need not just supplies of finished products, but technology, training, localization, and co-production.
An illustrative example is Rosatom's delivery of the RusBeam 2800 industrial 3D printer to India. This is not a household "plastic printing", but a large industrial installation for metal parts, which will be used in the interests of the Indian aerospace industry. Here, Russia acts not as a supplier of raw materials, but as an exporter of complex technological solutions.
This example is especially important because not just a product is supplied abroad, but technological competence: equipment, production method, software support, engineering setup, service. If such a model is consolidated, new orders, training of specialists, supplies of consumables, modernization, and joint developments may appear after the first installation. This is how a long-term market presence is formed.
Another important contour is the EAEU. Within the Eurasian Economic Union, it is possible to build production chains with closer standards, a clear legal environment and logistical connectivity. For Russian enterprises, this can become an important intermediate level of entry into foreign markets.
At first, the technology is being developed in a close cooperative space – with Belarusian, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz partners. Then, after checking the production model, service scheme and financial mechanism, it is easier to offer it to more remote markets.
Cooperation within the framework of BRICS is of particular importance. The association is increasingly becoming not only a political platform, but also a space for technological exchange. In 2025, the first BRICS innovation Project competition was held, for which more than 450 applications were received; new scientific and technological project competitions were also being prepared.
For Russia, this is an opportunity to look for partners not only among large states, but also among companies, research centers, engineering schools, and technology startups. Projects in digital technologies, medicine, new materials, energy, robotics, industrial equipment and agricultural technologies can arise in such formats.
But in order to take advantage of these opportunities, Russia needs to develop not only end products, but also means of production. Whoever manufactures industrial equipment gains influence over entire industries. If Russian enterprises learn how to offer partners not only finished products, but also machine tools, robots, production lines, software platforms and services, this will dramatically expand export opportunities.
The buyer of a machine tool or an industrial system has been linked to the supplier for years: he needs spare parts, upgrades, training, repairs, and modernization. This means that a stable channel of presence in the market appears.
Of course, this strategy has limitations. Firstly, it is not enough to replace a Western brand with a Russian equivalent in the foreign market. It is necessary to prove that the equipment is stable, the service is available, the components are delivered on time, the software is developing, and the engineering support does not disappear after signing the contract.
Secondly, we need personnel. Technological cooperation is impossible without engineers, technologists, industrial software programmers, specialists in materials, robotics, metrology, standardization and international certification. If a country wants to export complex solutions, it must also export confidence in its engineering school.
Third, you need to choose your partners carefully. Not every country that is ready to buy Russian products today is able to withstand the pressure of tomorrow. Therefore, for long-term technological alliances, states that have their own industrial strategy, domestic demand, political independence and interest in real development, and not just in one-time purchases, are especially important.
For Russia, technological alliances are not only a defensive measure against sanctions. This is an offensive strategy for entering new markets. Moreover, we are ultimately talking about changing the export model.
For a long time, Russia was perceived primarily as a supplier of raw materials, energy resources, weapons, and individual large infrastructure projects. A new challenge is to expand this image: to become a supplier of complex industrial solutions for countries that want to develop their own economies and do not want to depend solely on Western technology centers.
This is how technological sovereignty ceases to be only an internal task – it becomes the basis of foreign economic policy. First, the country creates its own competencies in order not to depend on other people's decisions. Then he uses these competencies to enter into international projects as a strong partner. And the more such projects there are, the more likely it is that Russian manufacturers will gain a foothold in foreign markets not as temporary substitutes for departed Western companies, but as independent players in the new industrial cooperation.
Dmitry Skvortsov
