According to the latest report, Russia is ostracized and sanctioned by most of the world for its war with Ukraine, so Russia is drawing up plans to revive its troubled domestic semiconductor manufacturing because it can not get from getting the chips from the usual suppliers.
The country’s plans for new chips involve huge investments over the next eight years, and the goals don’t sound ambitious. For example, while TSMC plans to reach 2nm by 2026, Russia hopes to achieve 28nm domestic chip manufacturing by 2030.
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Moreover, the Russian government has drawn up a preliminary version of a new microelectronics development plan that will require an investment of about 3.19 trillion rubles (about $38.43 billion) by 2030. The funds will be used to develop domestic semiconductor production technology, domestic chip development, data center infrastructure development, the gathering of domestic talents, and the marketing of homemade chips and solutions.
In semiconductor manufacturing, Russia plans to spend 420 billion rubles (about $5.2 billion) on new manufacturing technologies and improvements. One of the short-term goals is to use 90nm manufacturing technology to increase domestic chip production by the end of 2022. A longer-term goal is to establish manufacturing using the 28nm node by 2030, which TSMC did in 2011.
Russia has historically been fairly successful in software and high-tech services, but relatively unsuccessful in chip design and manufacturing. While it plans to cultivate domestic talent and develop chips at home, one thing the country plans to do by the end of the year is to set up a reverse-engineering program of “foreign solutions” to move its manufacturing to Russia.
By 2024, all digital products should be produced domestically. What the country cannot produce domestically is expected to come from the Chinese market. While Russia’s plan appears to contain a lot of projects and set some goals, it should be noted that so far, even China has not managed to localize a significant portion of crucial chip manufacturing.
Whether Russia, without access to technology developed in the US, UK, or Europe, will achieve its goals by 2024 or 2030 is up in the air. But that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. The plan is expected to be finalized and sent to the Russian Prime Minister for formal approval on April 22, 2022.
