Sanctions to raise competitiveness of Russian space industry

Anti-Russian sanctions introduced by the West in connection with the crisis in and around Ukraine have a favorable effect on the Russian space industry and they will boost its competitiveness eventually, believes Oleg Ostapenko, the director of Russia’s Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos).
“In cooperation with other ministries and departments, Roscosmos is implementing a comprehensive project aimed at substituting for imported products,” Ostapenko told Kommersant Daily as he answered a question about the impact the sanctions had wielded on the industry as a whole.
Plans for manufacturing each group of items needed by the industry - carrier rockets, booster blocks, and space probes are being drawn up.
“No doubt, a speedier implementation of the programme than planned originally will require more strenuous efforts on our part but one can state a generally beneficial impact of the sanctions on our sector, as we’ve sped up the steps towards cutting down the lists of /imported/ materials and assembly units, as well as towards unification and introduction of new technological solutions,” Ostapenko said.
The sanctions will stimulate an eventual slashing of the list of finished products and a simultaneous transition to new, more efficacious models.
“In the final run, this will make us independent from foreign suppliers and, on top of that, will make the finished products more reliable and less expensive, which means a boost to the competitiveness of our industry in general,” Ostapenko said.