The production units of the military-industrial complex operate under the constraints imposed by the general context of the transformation of the socio-economic system in Russia. So conversion is closely linked to the global transformation: we are dealing with a process and an objective which are totally interlinked with the restructuring process of the whole of the industrial base. Conversion is also undertaken concomitant with the emergence of a decentralised but a more and more theoretical money-based commercial economy (step backwards of the money-based economy, high transaction costs, barter). There are indeed specific constraints associated with the defense sector but these cannot be isolated from a more global analysis so long as the situation in the country's institutions and operating systems remains precarious. The question of conversion in Russia cannot be dissociated from a reflection, on the one hand, concerning the nature and the specificity of the assets of the production units, and, on the other hand, concerning the very concentrated nature of military production activity located over such a vast territory.Conversion, Defence industry, Industrial policy, Meso-economy, Regional development, Russia, Specificity of assets, Transaction costs,

Depuis la généralisation de l’économie de marché, la science économique sonnait le glas de l’économie politique. Dans ce contexte, le marché était omnipuissant et l’État se devait de concentrer son activité sur l’organisation d’un domaine régalien, souvent fluctuant et plutôt en régression en fonction des intérêts privés. La science de gestion donnait elle-même des outils aux entreprises dans le cadre d’un système économique qui prônait l’intérêt individuel comme objectif déterminant pour chacun des acteurs économiques. Aujourd’hui, avec la pandémie de la Covid-19, les analyses des économistes libéraux deviennent obsolètes face à la crise économique et sociale qui s’annonce très profonde. L’économie révèle alors son caractère éminemment politique. Les secteurs publics internationaux, nationaux et locaux organisent la lutte contre la crise de l’économie marchande. L’État redevient l’acteur central de la gestion de l’économie nationale, et il est alors conduit à faire des choix politiques qui redessineront les structures économiques et sociales du pays, notamment face aux grandes firmes multinationales et aux ambitions des autres Nations. Le caractère profondément politique et social d’une économie globalisée est mis en évidence avec cette crise caractérisée par la violence des rapports entre les États et entre les citoyens.

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Exports have been an important factor in Russian economic growth during recent years, but it is clear that growth of the economy cannot continue to depend on expanding exports of oil and other traditional Russian exportables. The role of machinery and other manufactured goods needs to increase. This restructuring of exports could successfully start on markets within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) provided that the existing system of payments inside the CIS is changed. The authors believe that such change could be achieved by introduction for CIS member countries of a multilateral payments system (MPS) similar to the European Payments Union (EPU), which was successfully used in Europe in the 1950s. The clearing currency for the proposed system could be the euro, the new multinational European currency. Adoption of the euro in such a role would support integration of CIS countries, which are not candidates for EU membership, with the European Union. Russia, which has expressed interest in further integration with the EU and in creation of a wider European Economic Area, should have an important role as an agent and middleman in pan‐European, factually Eurasian, integration.