An open letter from Autodesk CIS CEO to Russian customers and partners

On Habré, as well as in other sources, various information was published about the actions of Autodesk and other leading IT companies in connection with US sanctions, including here and here . In all this history, speculation sometimes prevailed over facts and official commentaries. To shed light on the situation, Autodesk CIS CEO Alexei Ryzhov wrote an open letter to Russian customers and partners.

Below is the full text of the letter. It is also available on the Autodesk site .

Dear Colleagues,
')
After the introduction of US sanctions in some Russian mass media, the opinion has spread that Autodesk is introducing its own sanctions against a number of Russian companies, arbitrarily restricting access to its products. I would like to refute this information, clarify the situation and express some thoughts on this issue:

1. The fact that Autodesk introduces sanctions against Russia is a myth. The questions "does Autodesk impose sanctions" or "does Autodesk support sanctions" are inherently incorrect. As is known, the headquarters of Autodesk, as well as at many leading IT companies, is located in the USA. Therefore, if the US government introduces trade sanctions, current legislation prohibits us from making deliveries for companies to which these sanctions apply. For this reason, we have no alternative but to suspend deliveries for companies from the sanctions list. Today, deliveries to these companies are technically impossible due to export control requirements.

To date, the sanctions have affected only a small number of Autodesk customers. Nevertheless, we regret the negative consequences that these companies and we ourselves have faced. For Autodesk, this situation is force majeure in exactly the same way as for other companies headquartered in Europe or the United States.

2. Autodesk software is a means of production for our customers, and rejection of it can be quite painful for them. Therefore, we considered it important to warn about the restriction of supply in advance, which we did by writing to our partners, which got into the media. We considered it necessary in the current situation to work as openly as possible and to inform our counterparties in advance about the situation, instead of blocking transactions upon the fact of an order.

3. We are ready to provide advice to any clients who doubt whether their company’s delivery restrictions apply.

4. I will also express some of my thoughts on import substitution and further development of the CAD market in Russia. In my opinion, domestic developments in the field of CAD should be developed regardless of the foreign policy situation. However, only an open, competitive market can help customers choose the best tools to solve immediate problems, and all supplier companies can invest in the development and development of new IT solutions.

So Autodesk invests in research and development of more than $ 600 million annually (more than a quarter of annual turnover). At the same time, we actively support Russian developers as part of the Autodesk Developer Network (ADN) initiative. Our ADN partners, in my opinion, form the most promising, growing segment in the Russian software market for design.

5. The success of our business directly depends on the development of industry and construction in Russia. Therefore, we are interested in the stability of both the American and Russian economies. The Russian market is an important part of Autodesk's global business. Autodesk has been working here since 1989, and during this time it has acquired more than ten thousand corporate customers and millions of users of home applications. In Russia, the company makes multimillion investments in education, as well as in projects aimed at developing innovations and solving social and environmental problems.

6. We continue to develop business in Russia, and you can hear about our programs, offers and investments at the annual Autodesk University conference, which will be held on October 1-2, 2014 in Moscow.


Respectfully,
Alexey Ryzhov
CEO Autodesk in Russia and the CIS