State-owned companies are obliged to switch to domestic software by 2022

The other day it became known that the government is demanding that the largest state-owned companies, including VTB, Rosneft and Channel One, in the coming years, go to work with domestic software. By 2022, half of the software with which domestic state-owned companies are working should be produced in Russia, as reported by Kommersant. Now, state-owned companies must approve action plans with an indication of the sources and volumes of their financing, after which they quarterly report to the Ministry of Communications.



Experts believe that now the project on import substitution will be implemented more actively. Approved by the directive on the transition to the domestic software Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. As for the companies that should be the first to switch to domestic software, they are Aeroflot, Gazprom, Sheremetyevo, Rosneft, Russian Railways, Channel One, Rosnano, VTB and others.



Within ten days after receiving the approved directives, all companies are obliged to initiate meetings of the boards of directors or bodies that are close in functionality to discuss the issue of import substitution software. Actually, the meetings themselves are rather a formality, since representatives of the Russian Federation must vote for the transition to Russian software.

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After this stage, state-owned companies should in just two months prepare and approve an action plan for the next three years, coordinated with the Competence Center for import substitution in the field of information and communication technologies. At the same time, it is necessary to indicate the responsible persons, events, sources, amounts and terms of financing, key performance indicators. Measures should be made to the long-term development program, submitting quarterly reports on the implementation of directives and action plans to the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media. This approach must also be implemented in subsidiaries, in the event that direct or indirect participation in their authorized capital exceeds 50%.



As for the software, we are talking about almost any software, including operating systems, application servers, office software, antivirus software. Companies must determine the depth of import substitution themselves. However, less than 50% indicator of the availability of domestic software can not be.



As for domestic organizations, many of them state that they are already implementing the instructions of the government. In particular, this is done by VTB, the program will be updated in accordance with the directives. Russian Railways OJSC reported that the share of domestic software will be gradually increased, the plan of measures for the next few years has been approved.



According to experts, despite the fact that import substitution as a process has been going on for several years (from about 2015), not all companies are actively introducing domestic software. Now the process can be accelerated, because one thing is the program of the government with general provisions, the second is a direct decree.



“This legislative initiative ... will create more fair conditions of competition in the global market of applications for mobile communication devices, which will positively affect the development of the Russian software development industry. The Ministry should study the issue of technological implementation of this initiative so that the requirement to install Russian products does not lead to an increase in the cost of smartphones bought by Russian consumers, ” said Leonid Levin, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications.



The complexity of the implementation of the import substitution program is also added by the fact that the replacement of foreign products with domestic ones requires funds that no one gives to the companies, it is necessary to implement government directives on their own. Not everyone has money and a working resource, so in some cases the process does not move too fast.



In 2016, a similar directive was already issued, which regulated the procurement of software for state corporations. But she did not work. Perhaps the new directive, in which specific indicators are clearly spelled out, will help to implement the program, if not in full, then at least speed up the overall process.