Robots are in demand. People are in short supply.
Russia is automating faster than ever: its fleet of industrial robots grew one and a half times in two years, the state pays for automation, and the labor shortage makes a robot a better deal than a new hire. The main constraint is where the equipment can legally be brought in from.
Data as of 30.10.2026
industrial robots work in Russia (Rosstat, the state statistics service, 2025) — versus 12,800 at the end of 2023. Plus 4,700 warehouse and logistics robots.
Source: ComNews, 10.04.2026
robots per 10,000 industrial workers — the target of a presidential decree for 2030. Today it is 29–40 by different estimates; the world average is about 177.
Source: Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 3 Jun 2026
of the industrial robot market is imports; almost 80% are Chinese robots. KUKA has stopped deliveries, FANUC has left.
Source: The Moscow Times, 08.07.2026
cashback from the state on buying and deploying robots — imported ones included, if there is no Russian equivalent. Awarded competitively, until 2029.
Source: 3DNews
a month — renting a cleaning robot; buying one — ₽2–3.5 million. A cleaner’s salary is over ₽90,000, a courier’s about ₽130,000.
Source: ComNews, 27.08.2026
Yandex rovers deliver orders in four cities; the goal is 20,000 by the end of 2027. Robotaxis in Moscow still ride with a test operator on board.
Source: 3DNews, 13.08.2026
What is in demand
For business
- Automating factories — cobots for palletizing and welding, machine tending — with state subsidies.
- Warehouses and logistics — AMR robots and sorting: online marketplaces grow faster than people can be found.
- Restaurants, hotels, shopping malls — cleaning and delivery robots — a clear payback against wages.
- AI inside the company — local models on your own server: data does not leave for someone else’s cloud.
- Premium housing — automated parking and smart home built into the design.
For the home
- Dacha and country house — robot lawn mowers, backup power, security, irrigation.
- Apartment — robot vacuums, smart locks, leak sensors.
- For a hobby — robot dogs and small humanoids for learning and programming.
Rules and reality
- American equipment — no. — Exporting goods of HS chapters 84, 85 and 90 to Russia requires a US license, and the policy is denial. Tesla Optimus, Figure, Atlas, Digit and Universal Robots arms will not reach Russia, and AbsoTech does not ship them.
- Chinese equipment — yes, with caveats. — No direct bans on selling Pudu, Keenon and Unitree to Russia were found, and Pudu and Keenon work through partners. But distribution agreements can exclude Russia, and payments to China are slow and carry fees — this is built into lead times and price.
- Duty, VAT and paperwork. — Industrial robots are imported at 0% duty; VAT is 22% from 2026. Before sale — declarations under the Eurasian customs union’s technical regulations TR CU 010/2011, 004/2011 and 020/2011; for devices with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth — an encryption notification.
- Logistics. — A 40-foot container from Shanghai to Moscow cost over $9,000 in August 2026 — 77% more than a year earlier. This is built into the price.
- Dual use. — Robot dogs and drones are sensitive equipment. AbsoTech does not work with defense or security-force customers.
Where the window of opportunity is
Cleaning robots for rent
Shopping and business centers, warehouses, retail, hotels: rental with service instead of purchase. The Lenta supermarket chain already works with 42 such robots.
For: property management companies, chains, cleaning operators
Cobot welding and palletizing cells
Welders are the scarcest of all. A single-operation cell at a small plant: selection, launch and the paperwork for the 20% cashback.
For: metalworking, food and pharmaceutical production
Your own AI on your own server
An open model inside the company: contracts, knowledge base, answers to customers — with no data sent outside, under the rules of Russia’s personal data law (152-FZ).
For: lawyers, banks, healthcare, manufacturing
Warehouses for fulfillment and 3PL
AMR robots for mid-size warehouses: marketplaces build their own automation, their partners do not.
For: fulfillment operators, 3PL providers, distributors
A country house with its own energy
Solar, battery, backup, mower, security — a house that runs itself, even when the grid is cut.
For: owners of country houses and cottage communities
Parking and smart home for premium housing
Automated parking and smart-home engineering in residential complex designs — decided at the design stage.
For: premium-class developers
Russia ⇄ Vietnam: one team
Absolute lives in both countries: Absolute centers are in preparation in Krasnaya Polyana and on Phu Quoc. AbsoTech carries the experience across: what works at Vietnam’s resorts goes to Sochi, what works in the Russian winter goes wherever it is needed.
Energy
Rosatom and Vietnam signed an agreement on the first nuclear power plant, “Ninh Thuan 1” (23 Mar 2026, two VVER-1200 units), and a roadmap for quantum technologies.
Russian-speaking resorts
Nha Trang and Phu Quoc: technology and service in Russian — for hotels, villas and residents.
Honest settlements
Payments between the countries go through bank checks — each country has its own contract and its own payment procedure.
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