Mechanical advancement: Russia needs to double the pace of industrial robotization
Russia needs to double the pace of industrial robotization in order to comply with the May presidential decree and enter the top 25 leading countries in this indicator by 2030, VEB.RF estimates. In November, the government approved a plan for structural changes in the economy, providing for an increase in the density of robotics to 145 industrial units per 10,000 people. However, according to experts, this level is not enough: given the global pace of industry development, the figure should be at least 285 robots. The information about what measures can change the situation is in the Izvestia article.
Why the current pace of robotization is not enough
The Russian Federation needs to double the pace of industrial robotization. This follows from a letter from VEB's chief economist.Andrey Klepach of the Russian Federation in the Ministry of Economic Development. In November, the government approved a plan for structural changes in the Russian economy until 2030, which sets targets for the development of key industries. The document, in particular, indicates the expected increase in the density of robotics — up to 145 units of equipment per 10,000 jobs.
However, this pace may not be enough to fulfill the May presidential decree: back in 2024, Vladimir Putin set the goal of making Russia one of the top 25 countries in terms of robotics density.
According to the estimates of the VEB Institute for Research and Expertise.In the Russian Federation, taking into account the global pace of industry development, in order to achieve this goal, the density level should be almost twice as high as the officially stated targets — about 285 units. For comparison, as early as 2023, the global average was 162 robots and increased by about 10% per year.
As a result, without accelerating the pace of introduction of industrial robots, Russia risks not entering the top 25 countries in this indicator, according to the institute's materials.
As Anton Alikhanov, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, reported in May 2025, by the end of 2024, the level of robotics in the Russian Federation reached 29 units per 10,000 people. For comparison, some of the highest rates are traditionally recorded in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region: in South Korea, the density exceeds 1.1 thousand units per 10 thousand people, the minister noted.
As experts told Izvestia, robotics has become especially relevant for Russia in the face of external economic pressure and a shortage of personnel in a number of industries. In this situation, the state needs to look for tools to increase production efficiency.
According to Vladimir Chernov, analyst at Freedom Finance Global, the prospects for Russia's entry into the top 25 countries in terms of robotics density by 2030 currently look restrained. Formal guidelines have been set, but the gap with world leaders remains too significant — even with the implementation of current plans, the Russian Federation will be noticeably inferior to the countries of East Asia and Europe, he noted.
— We can generally agree with the assessment of the insufficiency of 145 units per 10,000 people. Such an indicator means rather a slow catching-up development, but not a qualitative breakthrough. At these rates, robotics will be able to compensate only for a part of the personnel shortage, but it will not provide productivity growth comparable to world leaders. In fact, we are talking about a scenario of maintaining the gap, and not about becoming one of the leading countries," emphasized Vladimir Chernov.
Izvestia sent inquiries to the Web.The Russian Federation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Economic Development.
— In general, in 2023-2024, the density of robotics in Russia increased from 19 to 29 industrial units, which is the 41st place in the world. However, it is important to note that a number of industries, such as the mechanical engineering sector, have already exceeded the target of the national project. Accordingly, in 2026 we expect an increase in the number of implemented industrial robots and the level of robotics density," the Ministry of Industry and Trade told Izvestia.
The Russian Federation provides systematic support for the production of such complexes, and this has produced clear results in a number of industries, agrees economist Andrey Loboda. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, robotics is being implemented most dynamically at domestic enterprises of mechanical engineering and metalworking, automotive, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, food industry and logistics (where complexes for moving, sorting and picking orders are in demand).
According to the agency, today 4,348 robots have been introduced in the automotive industry, 3,069 in the chemical industry, 3,068 in metallurgy, and 2,679 in the food industry.
"Significant prospects are opening up in the aircraft and automotive industries, where large metalworking workshops have significant reserves for the introduction of modern technologies," Rostec said.
The state corporation added that some productions within UEC or KAMAZ have achieved a high level of robotization, where the ratio of technical units and people can reach one to six. In many segments of the domestic industry, welding processes remain the key driver of the introduction of robots: over the past 10 years, about 80% of all robotic operations have been performed on welding sites, the state corporation added.
What measures will help Russia become a leader?
Despite certain results in the development of the industry, existing robotics support programs are not enough to achieve world-leading positions, said Stanislav Naumov, Deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy.
Within the framework of the national project "Means of Production and Automation", grants from the Innovation Assistance Fund for Small Enterprises are issued to businesses, there are also subsidies to customers for R&D and compensation to manufacturers of industrial robots for discounts provided to customers, the parliamentarian noted. There is an industrial cashback for consumers, which allows them to receive compensation in the amount of up to 20% of the cost of implementing and equipping equipment.
"We need specialized tools that reduce business risks, compensate for long payback periods for robotics projects, as well as targeted support for supply and demand — government orders for such solutions for state corporations and companies with state participation can create a guaranteed market for domestic integrators and manufacturers, allowing them to increase volumes and reduce costs,— said Stanislav Naumov.
In addition, it is extremely important to work on standardization and the creation of open platforms so that solutions from different manufacturers can interact, the deputy added.
As Izvestia wrote, in December 2025, Maxim Oreshkin, Deputy head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, instructed relevant departments to assess the possibility of strengthening robotics in key industries, as well as to introduce benefits similar to the IT sector.
Robotization is not only the purchase of hardware, but also the creation of integrated solutions, where the cost of the technical units themselves is only about half of the total cost, said Dmitry Tortev, a member of the expert council of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of Competition. The payback period for such projects in world practice is three to five years, which scares business away in conditions of a high key rate, he noted.
— A significant part of Russian industrial production consists of unique products or small series (for example, in the machine tool and aircraft industry). Reconfiguring robotic systems for a new task is a complex and expensive process. In addition, personnel is still a key issue at all stages, from the design and production of robots to their integration into production and subsequent maintenance," the expert added.
According to him, up to 70% of the necessary qualifications in the industry have not yet been closed. Due to these factors, domestic solutions are often twice as expensive as imported analogues due to small series, high personnel costs and lack of economies of scale.
The key issue now is to make robotics profitable for enterprises, said Vladimir Chernov. This includes subsidizing interest rates and equipment leasing, accelerated depreciation, tax deductions for investments in automation, and guaranteed demand through large government orders.
A separate area is to support domestic manufacturers of components and software in order to reduce currency and sanctions risks, the expert added. Without a comprehensive policy, where robotics will become an element of industrial and personnel strategy, rather than a formal KPI, it will be difficult to reach a pace twice as high as the current one, the specialist concluded.
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