The Concept of Import Substitution in Agricultural Industry: Threats and Opportunities to Improve the Competitiveness of National Certified Agricultural Producers

Abstract

The article clarifies specific problems of agriculture in Russia, which have a negative impact on the competitiveness of domestic certified agricultural producers. The authors note that introduction of counter-sanctions can stimulate agriculture development and increase its competitiveness and investment attractiveness, since domestic producers obtain certain competitive advantages in the new market conditions. On the other hand, sanctions, as a factor of import substitution, are compulsory by nature. They do not always contribute to the competitiveness of domestic producers in the long run, especially in the global markets. The potential consequences of the forced imports substitution can include declining product quality and increasing prices. Apart from that, the existing problems of import substitution in Russian agriculture may have negative impact on the country’s food supply security. According to the authors, import substitution should be considered in relation to existing challenges: improving the quality of goods and living standards of the population, stimulating effective demand, developing marketing and logistics systems. The authors conclude that the existing problems in agriculture are interrelated. An integrated approach is required in order to solve these problems resulting in the increase of the competitiveness of the domestic agricultural producers.