Abstract. The material presents the main outcomes of the discussion on the topic "Russian economy under sanctions: opportunities and prospects of import substitution" held at the regular session of the IMEMO Academic Council in October 2015. The key report “Import substitution under conditions of globalization” (V. Zagashvili, Dr. Sci., Econ.) provided an in-depth theoretical and historic consideration of the discussed issue. It was supplemented by the analysis of the current situation and prospects of import substitution (1) in the Russian agricultural sector with the stress on the implications of the counter-sanctions against the Western nations imposed by the Russian government in August 2014 (B. Frumkin, Cand. Sci., Econ.) and (2) in the local manufacturing sector (V. Obolenskii, Dr. Sci., Econ.). Also, the issue of compatibility of the economic sanctions with the WTO principles and legal norms was treated (A. Portanskii, Cand. Sci., Econ.). In addition, special attention was paid to the historic experiences of some nations in the sphere of import substitution (India and Japan).