While Russia was preparing to join the WTO, analysts predicted the consequences of this event. Basically, they talked about negative scenarios. They, like the Russians themselves, do not believe in the viability of the country's economy.
What does the entry of a state into the WTO mean in general? First of all, the reduction of customs duties for exports and imports. For Russia, this simple formulation actually entails complex processes in the domestic and foreign markets. The duties will decrease - this means that new importers will appear, and it will become easier for the old ones to sell the goods. On the one hand, this can cause a drop in prices on the shelves. But do not forget that in Russia today there is a huge number of outdated industries that can finally lose their profitability.
In simple terms, earlier a piece of meat from abroad, passing through customs in Russia, rose in price due to a high duty. And it was cheaper for a Russian buyer to purchase the products of a local pig farm. Now that the price of "overseas" pork has fallen, the local product will not interest anyone, because the production on that pig farm survived exclusively at the expense of the domestic consumer, while yielding in quality to the imported, but expensive, product.
Among the reasons for the negative consequences of joining the WTO for Russia is the high level of corruption. The costs on that same pig farm are already too high to compete with imports: the equipment is outdated, the introduction of cost-effective innovations is at zero. But, among other things, part of the profit goes to the purchase of apartments, summer cottages and management cars.
Thus, it can be assumed that in such a struggle, industries that are not inferior to imported ones in terms of product quality and cost effectiveness will survive. And such, according to analysts, there are few in Russia. And among the incapacitated industries are named, in particular, such important for the country as agriculture, mechanical engineering. And this will lead, according to the most disappointing forecasts, to the collapse of enterprises, the desolation of territories and, consequently, the loss of a huge number of jobs.
In addition, favorable conditions are being created for the promotion of large enterprises and concerns to Russia. This will lead to the fact that the niche of medium and small businesses in the domestic market will practically disappear.
Whether all these predictions come true or not will be seen only in a few years. In the meantime, the government and enterprises in Russia are trying to find workarounds for the survival of the domestic economy. They invite investors to the country, conclude agreements with large companies, modernize production facilities and try to fight corruption.
