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81

82

59

98

91

116

109,5

107,1

Source: the State Statistics Committee ofRussia

The trends and structure of the capitalgoods output by machine building sectors reflect the Russian businesses promptreaction to the changing situating in the domestic market. However, despite anintensive output growth, the outdated material and technical base as well as alow investment activity in machine building proper act as the factors holdingback the restoration of a sustainable trend in economic growth.

The reproductivestructure of investments in fixed capital

A trend to increased major overhaulexpenditures also exerts a negative influence on the fixed asset reproduction.Calculations reveal that expenditure on major overhauls in 1999-2001, on theaverage, made up about 20 percent of investments in fixed capital. The highshare of expenditure on overhauls bears out the fact that the investmentprocess is geared toward inexpensive and short-term ways of renovating theproduction apparatus. This results in a demand for technical equipmentcomponents which can be easily replaced without long-term investments in fixedcapital, that is for the account of operating capital – a specific feature of theinvestment process in the Russian economy. However, such practices lead toeconomic and technological stagnation in the long run. The production apparatuscreated in the previous decades is geared towards production for a closedeconomy without competition. The issue of renovating the active part of thefixed assets, qualitatively changing the technological level of production andenhancing its efficiency have become highly topical today.

Analysis of production capacity utilizationreveals that most equipment, due to its physical and moral wear and tear cannotbe employed in production. Capacity utilization varies substantially. Equipmentutilization in the raw materials sectors, characterized by a low share of addedvalue, is significantly higher than in the processing sectors. Even within onesector, but at different production facilities, the extent of equipmentutilization varies. Despite the fact that active engagement of reservecapacities determined restoration of economic growth in 1999-2001, however,there is a certain limit to equipment utilization.

An increased demand in raw material sectorscan overall be met by engaging the available facilities, however, the reservesfor expanded output in the processing and especially high tech sectors aredetermined by the quality of the equipment and the technologies applied.Substantial wear of fixed capital in the processing sectors is the cause of thelow utilization level as well as a factor limiting potentialities for furtherproduction growth.

Table 22

Utilization level of year-average capacityfor producing individual industrial products, in percent

	1990	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Oil primary refining	87	62	61	65	60	64	68
Coal	93	72	72	70	66	73	84
Cast iron	94	70	70	73	71	84	86
Steel	94	67	68	68	63	71	77
Finished non-ferrous rolling	92	66	65	67	59	63	72
Commercial iron ore	98	84	81	81	81	90	92
Mineral fertilizers	75	50	46	49	47	58	63
Synthetic resins andplastics	84	45	36	40	45	55	62
Paint and varnishmaterials	74	20	17	17	15	20	24
Car tires	91	43	52	62	59	69	71
Machine tools	81	24	18	16	13	14	17
Forge and press machines	83	13	7,8	7,8	10	10	13
Tractors	81	11	10	9,7	8,4	14	19
Household refrigerators andfreezers	98	37	24	27	25	31	39
Electrical vacuumcleaners	82	19	13	14	12	21	20
Households clocks	98	40	22	16	18	28	55
Lumber	69	31	28	27	29	34	39
Laminated plywood	88	52	53	53	67	76	82
Splint-slabs	92	39	27	30	36	47	55
Cardboard	87	41	29	35	38	52	63

Source: Goscomstat

With a continuing trend for declining realsavings, production growth is of a temporary nature, determined, as a rule, bya higher utilization level of the operational capacities and active engagementof reserve capacities in production due to upgrading and overhauling theaccumulated potential. The sector average capacity utilization in oil refiningstood at 68 percent in 2000, while the economically efficient level is 80-85percent. The capacity utilization factor amounted to 53 percent against 43percent in 1998 in chemical and petrochemical industry due to the favorableconditions in the international market and a higher domestic consumer demandfor the sector products. In machine building and metal working the processes ofproduction capacity optimization, improved quality characteristics ofindividual types of machines and equipment, implementation of advancedscientific and technological developments and new highly efficient technologiessupported the positive trends. However, the capacity utilization both in thesectors and in individual production facilities is characterized by criticallylow values.

The ratio between the wear and the agestructure of fixed assets vividly illustrates a dire need to step up revampingprocesses. Machine building remains in one of the last places among theindustry sectors with respect to the capacity utilization level. The situationis aggravated by the fact that, failing to meet the market quality criteria,machine building is unable to reach a requisite sales volume which wouldgenerate funds for massive investments in revamping own productioncapacities.

The technologicalstructure of investments in fixed capital.

A declining ratio of fixed asset renewal isaccompanied by changes in the technological structure of investments in fixedcapital. The first stages of the reform witnessed a increasing share ofexpenditure on construction and assembly works, but since 1995 a growing shareof expenditure on machine and equipment purchases has been noted. Increasedexpenditure on plant and equipment is determined by shifts in the reproductivestructure of investments. Expansion of work in enterprise retrofits andoverhauls was characteristic of 1999-2001. Spending on plant and equipment wentup to 37.4 percent in the total investment volume in 2001 against an average of22 percent during the 1992-1998 period.

Table 23

The structure of investments in fixedcapital by type, in percent of the total

	1998	1999	2000	2001*)
Investments in fixed capital– total	100	100	100	100
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