Shipments of Russian road construction equipment (RCE) in the first quarter of 2026 plummeted by half compared to the same period last year, totaling 5.8 billion rubles, Vedomosti reports, citing data from the Rosspetsmash association. The decline affected almost all segments, and the quarter became the worst for the industry in the last six years – even lower than the COVID-hit 2020, when the market grew by 6% to 8.2 billion rubles.
In physical terms, the picture is critical. 29 crawler bulldozers were shipped (a more than fivefold drop), and only nine crawler excavators (also a fivefold drop). Shipments of mini-loaders decreased by more than three times to 55 units, rollers by 20% to 12 units, and motor graders by 3% to 31 units. Pipelayer cranes were not shipped at all. Against this backdrop, only front-end loaders (99 units, +65%) and backhoe loaders (95 units, +19%), which are in demand in municipal services, stood out.
The decline in government orders triggered the market collapse. According to Rosstat, the volume of construction work in the first quarter decreased by 10% to 2.91 trillion rubles. Subsidies to Avtodor were cut from 209.5 to 188.8 billion rubles, and funding for the repair and maintenance of federal highways decreased from 443 to 432 billion. Denis Kudryavtsev, General Director of the Spetsavtoprom association, called the 2026 scenario the worst: government orders do not compensate for the almost complete absence of commercial demand.
At the same time, imports are putting pressure on the market. According to Strategy Partners, in 2023, imports of foreign equipment exceeded 440 billion rubles with a market capacity of 80 thousand units, and today the industry lives off inventory, the secondary market, rentals, and seized leased equipment. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is discussing the introduction of a mandatory share of domestic equipment in road projects, but according to experts, a return to the pre-crisis level of 2023 is possible no earlier than 2030.
In fact, the RCE market has fallen into a classic trap: there is no money for new equipment, imports are filling the remaining niches, and government support is not yet able to reverse the trend.
