The head of Rostec spoke about export achievements, labor shortages and the withdrawal of competitors from the market
The export portfolio of Russian defense products has reached a record figure of $60 billion. At the same time, defense industry enterprises focus on the supply of equipment to the zone of a special military operation. The head of Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, in an exclusive interview with TASS, told why military production volumes will remain high for a long time, about Russia's place in the technological arms race and the lack of enthusiasm for Leopard and Challenger tanks.
— Sergey Viktorovich, Russian weapons are still in demand on the international market, but at the same time, the main focus now is on the needs of their own. How does this setup affect export contracts and the order portfolio?
— The export portfolio has reached a record figure of $60 billion. The interest in our developments is understandable. The world sees their advantages not in advertising booklets and commercials, but on the battlefield. For the same reasons, enthusiasm for some Western models is no longer what it used to be. For example, the British Challenger discredited itself in its zone, as did the German Leopard. Even the Abrams, with all their objective shortcomings, will give Challenger a head start. Our "Breakthrough" is head and shoulders above both British and American tanks, and foreign customers understand this perfectly well.
— Rostec has many enterprises in the civil sector that work with foreign partners, including Chinese ones. The media has repeatedly reported difficulties in calculations due to the risks of secondary sanctions. How serious is this problem for Rostec?
— You can get used to everything and adapt. We have been under various sanctions for a long time, since 2014. With their help, they tried to put pressure on the arms market even before their own, as well as in civilian segments where the United States did not want competition. We had enough time to adapt and learn how to live with them.
We have long moved away from the dollar and the euro, we pay in national currencies. We know that the United States uses any methods to achieve its goals. They put pressure on officials of our partner countries, on their families, and even threaten their personal safety. It is for this reason that I will not talk about the details of relations with other countries. I will only say that we do not have insurmountable difficulties in this work.
— Civilian enterprises that are not part of the state corporation complain about the shortage of labor due to the growing demand from the defense industry. As you said, Rostec is one of the main consumers of labor. How do you propose to solve this problem? Won't this problem worsen after the end of the SVO?
— The shortage of workers affects the whole of Russia, we are no exception. Last year, the Rostec team grew to 660 thousand specialists, that is, by almost 70 thousand people.
The question of what these people will do after their release is not worth it. The volume of military production will remain high for a long time. Even after graduation, it will be necessary to replenish reserves. In addition, we are waiting for serious export contracts.
I would like to add that the high demand for personnel is not only related to the state defense order. There is a lot of growth in civilian areas as well. Perhaps the highest demand for personnel today is in the aircraft industry. By 2030, the country needs many different types of aircraft. Hundreds of enterprises across the country are involved in cooperation on aviation programs.
I would like to note that we predict the future and train personnel literally from school. We work with schools and organize engineering classes. Together with the regions, we are building the training of professional workers. We cooperate with leading universities in the fields of aircraft engineering, IT, biomedical technologies and others to train engineers.
— Because of the sanctions, Russia has lost the opportunity to buy Western aircraft. How feasible is the task of building fully domestic civil aircraft?
— It was not Russia that lost the opportunity, but Western aircraft manufacturers that lost the Russian market. The competitors are gone. A few years ago, the domestic aviation industry could only dream of such a thing.
In world practice, it takes 10-12 years to create a new aircraft. To create an aircraft engine — up to 15 years. We don't have that much time — we're moving about 1.5–2 times faster.
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Difficulties arise along the way. The aircraft industry is a complex industry where nothing is done at the click of a finger. Nevertheless, Russia will definitely have its own passenger planes, you can be sure.
— How is the problem of imported components in civilian aircraft solved?
— The only way is to work. There are two options: either import substitution, or the creation of completely domestic aircraft. For example, the Superjet-100 project (initially the aircraft was created in cooperation with Western manufacturers) goes in two directions at once. On the one hand, we are creating a new version of the aircraft — with a modified fuselage and a purely Russian filling. On the other hand, we are doing everything to maintain the serviceability of the existing fleet of Superjets. In particular, we have mastered the maintenance of about 200 components, including the modular repair of the SaM146 electronic engine control unit. We have created domestic analogues of spark plugs and filters. As a result, the regularity of SSJ-100 flights in our airlines is kept at a high level — about 98%.
— There is an opinion that technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and biotechnology will determine world leadership in the coming decades. What is Russia's position in this race for the most important technologies?
— First, let's figure out what kind of leadership the world powers are fighting for.
Let's remember the first atomic bomb and the US nuclear strikes on the civilian population of Japan in 1945. There was no common sense in this. The Americans just wanted to prove "who is the boss in the house." As a result, they provoked the Cold War and the arms race with the USSR.
It's been 80 years. The world has dramatically advanced in technology, but is sliding back down the path of degradation. Moreover, she is even more threatening than then.
The same biotechnologies can bring both enormous benefits and enormous harm. There was a discussion for a reason: could COVID-19 have been man-made or not.
So, if by leadership you mean the ability to strike at humanity, then this is not our option.
Of course, we are working in all the areas you have listed. We are working efficiently. Technologies that meet Russia's national interests will be implemented at the right level. There is no doubt.
