Modern Development of Industrial Microelectronics in Russia

If one word could describe the path of Russian microelectronics in recent years, it would be «breakthrough». The numbers are impressive: over the past five years, production output in the industry has more than doubled, reaching 3.4 trillion rubles in 2024. In 2025, the figure is expected to exceed 3.5 trillion rubles. At the same time, the range of domestically produced electronic products has expanded from 2,500 to 36,000 items. This is the result not only of government investment but also of serious external pressure that forced the industry to rely on its own resources and accelerate the development of domestic solutions.

At the same time, it is important to understand: the global technology gap has not disappeared. While leading global manufacturers are mastering 2–3 nm processes, Russian industry has only just approached serial production of chips using 65 nm topology and is developing a 28 nm technology. However, the very fact that after years of stagnation the industry has started moving forward again is already a significant achievement.

Government Strategy and Record Funding

In September 2025, at the «Microelectronics 2025» forum, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin set an ambitious goal: by 2030, to bring the output of the electronic industry to 6.3 trillion rubles, thereby covering approximately 70% of domestic demand with Russian manufacturers.

The task is colossal, and the resources allocated are correspondingly large. In 2026–2028, the government will allocate over 250 billion rubles from the federal budget for the development of the electronic industry. This adds to already invested funds: over the previous three years, investments exceeded 300 billion rubles, and in 2025 alone, more than 100 billion rubles were allocated.

However, the dynamics of state support are not linear. According to Element Group, state support will reach 186.5 billion rubles in 2026 (6.3 times more than in 2025), but will then decline to 122–119 billion rubles in 2027–2028. The company explains that the focus is shifting toward more targeted support for actual manufacturers and accelerating the implementation of existing developments to achieve economic effect. At the same time, preferential lending and tax breaks remain — the profit tax rate for the industry stays at 8% instead of the standard 25%.

Key Players and New Production Facilities

Element Group: National Competence Center

The key player in the market is Element Group, which brings together 10 development centers and 10 factories producing integrated circuits, semiconductor devices, modules, power electronics, chip packages, and radio-electronic equipment. Its subsidiary NIIET is the only enterprise in Russia engaged in serial production and supply of GaN‑on‑Si transistors.

Mikron Plant: New Lines and Record Capacities

Zelenograd-based Mikron is the largest Russian manufacturer and exporter of microelectronics, the only serial production facility in the RF with topology down to 90 nm, and part of Element Group. In 2024, the plant launched two new production lines with total investments of 1.35 billion rubles. The results are impressive:

• Plastic package assembly line — capacity up to 18 million chips per year;

• Chip module line — capacity doubled from 28 million to 56 million units per year.

The new production enabled the manufacture of the first fully domestic microcontroller with an open RISC-V core — the MIK32 «Amur» — as well as power management chips, transistors, stabilizers, amplifiers, and other components — over 40 different products for telecommunications equipment, automotive electronics, the Internet of Things, smart home, medical devices, and measuring instruments.

Novgorod: Full‑Cycle Plant Construction

In 2025, construction began on a modern plant in Veliky Novgorod, which promises to become an important player in domestic microelectronics. The facility will provide a full production cycle — from silicon wafer processing to final packaging of finished chips. It is particularly emphasized that the plant will produce chips for the defense industry and the space sector.

Technological Breakthroughs: Lithography and New Developments

One of the most anticipated events was the announcement of the first domestic lithography tool at the «Microelectronics 2025» forum. This tool is a cornerstone of chip manufacturing, and its absence had long been a key element of technological dependence. As First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov stated:

«Today, we are actively investing in the creation of electronic machine building. And next year, we will have our own 130 nm lithography tool, developed in cooperation with our Belarusian colleagues. We will then steadily move forward in improving these areas.»

In 2026, development will begin on Russia’s first lithography tool for 90 nm chip production. The electronics development plan up to 2030 envisions serial production of chips using 65 nm topology in 2028.

Market Paradoxes: Production Growth Amid Falling Sales

This is the main paradox of the current moment: despite a twofold increase in production in ruble terms, the market for Russian‑made electronic components shrank by a quarter in 2025 to 288 billion rubles, and the share of domestic products fell to 26% (74.9 billion rubles).

Ivan Pokrovsky, head of ARPE, notes that the output of domestic components has been falling for the second consecutive year. The main demand comes from defense industry enterprises, while the share of Russian components in civilian markets is «negligibly small». The negative dynamics were caused by reduced investment programs among customers, budget shortages, lower government order funding, and uncertain prospects.

At the same time, data from different experts diverge. Strategy Partners estimates the electronic components market at 449 billion rubles, with a forecast of nearly fivefold growth of the domestic segment to 524 billion rubles by 2030. These contradictions in statistics are due to different calculation methods and the fact that a significant portion of production in monetary terms comes from end devices (servers, telecom equipment) rather than from the chips themselves.

Import Substitution: From Reactive Phase to a Strategy of Leading Development

The «Microelectronics 2025» forum demonstrated that the industry has reached a new level of maturity. The reactive phase of import substitution is gradually giving way to a strategy of leading development.

In recent years, development has been initiated for more than 50 types of devices, over 150 types of materials and chemicals, and 20 modules for computer‑aided design (CAD) tools.

However, the import substitution process remains complex and lengthy. According to Yadro, a complete abandonment of imported technologies in electronics will take at least 10–15 years, and a strategy of gradual adaptation given current constraints seems more realistic.

A key direction — import substitution of equipment and materials for microelectronics production: the electronic machine building development program aims to reach about 70% by 2030.

Exports and International Cooperation

Despite sanctions, exports of Russian microelectronics are growing year by year. Anatoly Garbuzov, Minister of the Moscow Government, reported that in 2024, Moscow‑based electronics and optics companies more than doubled their output, and shipments of microelectronic products increased by almost 40%, reaching nearly 80 billion rubles.

Export geography of Moscow manufacturers:

• Belarus — over 40% of total shipments;

• India — about 30%;

• Moscow accounts for over 20% of Russia’s microelectronics exports.

Element Group’s export revenue for the first half of 2025 reached 8% of total volume, with the company noting partner interest in its own developments in the precision engineering segment, which produces equipment for the microelectronics industry.

The Personnel Issue: The Industry’s Main Resource

Talent is in short supply everywhere. At the beginning of 2025, 90% of companies faced a shortage of employees. The current personnel deficit in microelectronics enterprises is over 7,000 people (data from the training center at MIET University for 2024). Over the next three years, microelectronics companies will need about 3,000 employees, and including the radio‑electronics sector — more than 20,000.

At the «Microelectronics 2025» forum, a roundtable on «Personnel Support for the Electronic Industry» showed some positive results: in 2025, for 450 state‑funded places in relevant specializations, about 1,300 applications were submitted — a competition of almost three people per spot.

Large enterprises are actively involved in training:

• Mikron carries out systematic work to develop human resources in cooperation with 23 universities and colleges in 8 Russian cities.

• NIIME in 2025 organized unique educational programs within the framework of the large‑scale national project «Personnel».

Outlook: What’s Next?

Sanctions have become a powerful driver for the development of Russian science and microelectronics — both due to government orders and orders from private businesses. Gennady Krasnikov, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, notes: «We still have schools, achievements, knowledge — everything now depends only on the will of the state.»

Key plans and initiatives for 2026 and beyond:

1. Creation of a new megacorporation. Russian authorities have approved a plan to create the «United Microelectronics Company» (UMC). Its development will receive 1 trillion rubles. Funds will be raised through a technology levy on finished products, effective from September 1, 2026.

2. Start of 90 nm lithography tool development — as early as 2026.

3. Achieving serial production using 65 nm topology by 2028.

4. Expansion of production capacities — through the implementation of new projects, total capacity is planned to increase more than eightfold by 2030.

Conclusion

Russian microelectronics today is an industry of contrasts. On one hand, record funding, capacity expansion, technological breakthroughs in lithography and new materials, and growing exports. On the other hand, a falling share of domestic components in the internal market, continued dependence on imported equipment and materials, and an acute personnel shortage.

However, the main thing that distinguishes the current moment from all previous decades is the will for technological sovereignty, backed by real resources and systematic state policy. The industry has moved from talking about problems to concrete projects and results.

President Vladimir Putin emphasized the need to intensify efforts to create a domestic technological platform in microelectronics, closely integrating the work of scientists with the real production sector. At the same time, Dmitry Medvedev acknowledged that Russia lags significantly in this sphere and that the situation needs radical change.

The road ahead is long. But the direction is set, resources are allocated, and the first significant results have already been achieved. The question is whether the industry can maintain the pace and overcome the structural constraints that have accumulated over decades.