The article highlights the importance of a balanced structure of the economy in terms of the ratio of the production of goods and the provision of services; the history of specialization of the Russian Federation as a state and territorial entity, the key features of its structure are considered. Modern aspects of import substitution in Russia are described. A comment is made on the program “Import Substitution 2.0”, which is based on quotas for public procurement from Russian suppliers. Some problems and negative aspects of the state of implementation of the import substitution program in the Russian Federation are reflected. It is concluded that the measures for the development of import substitution were largely unsystematic, were of a fragmented nature, and in some cases even contradicted each other. Their implementation failed to optimize the structure of the economy. A set of measures to escalate import substitution is proposed, including the priority development of specific types of goods with a certain share of sales abroad and the coverage of import substitution in the sphere of services.