The strong ruble has severely damaged the export of Russian agricultural machinery. Konstantin Babkin, co-owner of Rostselmash, stated this in an interview with Vedomosti.
According to him, in currency terms, due to the exchange rate, Russian combines have become approximately 30% more expensive.
We have to explain to partners why a machine that used to cost, say, 150 thousand dollars, now costs more than 200 thousand dollars. Therefore, the export market for us is now significantly smaller than it could be.
Earlier, Babkin had already called the strengthening of the ruble one of the main problems of the industry, and described the situation in agricultural machinery manufacturing as critical: over three years, equipment production has approximately halved. The entrepreneur emphasized that China has become the technological leader in agricultural machinery manufacturing, although in the Soviet Union, the industry was advanced, and domestic equipment was supplied to dozens of countries.
Rostselmash is adapting to the fourth year of declining demand: the company is cutting costs and investments, but continues to work on new equipment models, Babkin noted.
Read more on the topic:
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