IT Iron Curtain in Russia or fighting with the truth.
Today, the words sanctions and Russia are synonymous. They affected all spheres of the economy. The IT infrastructure was one of the first to feel the sanctions pressure from both the so-called civilized West and the retaliatory measures of the Russian state.
On February 25, Intel and AMD announced their withdrawal from Russia. On the same date, TSMC announced that it was ending cooperation with Russian companies. This news is very sad. I think no one needs to explain that leaving of Intel and AMD is zeroing out the possibilities of restoring IT infrastructure. Leaving of TSMC is critical for the Russian processor manufacturer Elbrus. Yes, of course there is China with its used processors, but they will not be able to effectively cover the needs of a country like Russia.
ESET, one of the leading providers of cybersecurity solutions with headquarters in the EU, stops selling products to home users, businesses and organizations in Russia and Belarus. To be honest, it is difficult to consider this a problem. The fact is that most of the public sector and related companies use anti-virus tools produced by Kaspersky or Dr. Web.
After foreign companies Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, etc. suspended their activities in the Russian market, the demand for domestic solutions increased by 300%. Most of the orders are for office packages, OS and database management systems. Russian companies that produce such software classes include Rusbitech-Astra, Basalt SPO, My Office and Postgres Professional.
Regarding operating systems, everything is very transparent and clear. The leading positions among Russian operating systems are occupied by Astra Linux (50–60%) and ALT Linux (20–30%). Astra Linux, for example, is a Debian-based operating system designed for comprehensive information protection and the construction of secure automated systems.
The market reacted immediately to Microsoft’s actions. Over the past week, the demand for the P7-office product has grown by an average of 680%. The request for migration from cloud analogues to Russian solutions increased by 840%.
Facebook was one of the first victims, Roskomnadzor blocked Facebook’s access to the network on March 4.The reason for the blocking was Facebook’s repeated expression of discrimination against Russian media. The blockage occurred after Facebook’s parent company, Meta, announced its decision to restrict access to the state-owned news channels Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik in Europe. However, this did not become a problem for Russian users, since Vkontakte is the most popular social network in Russia, which reported on the growth of its indicators. The number of VKontakte video views increased by 18%, and the number of messages sent in the messenger increased by 21%. The volume of VKontakte’s active audience has also grown this evening — by 19% compared to yesterday’s figures.
The other day Youtube also blocked access to the same channels, as well as the channels of Vladimir Solovyov (a Russian journalist, one of the leading propagandists of Kremlin policy), as well as to some other news channels of Russia or pro-Russian rhetoric. Google has also banned Russian channel owners from monetizing content. Moreover, there are rumors that sooner or later Youtube may also be blocked. But Russian users and bloggers are not discouraged here either. Russia has its own Youtube analogue — Rutube. Rutube, following Vkontakte, reported growth, the number of uploaded user content increased 2.8 times, the number of new registered users increased 5.5 times.
Tik Tok also stops working in Russia due to the new law on fakes. Creators who violate the law face up to 15 years in prison.
Microsoft, Adobe, DXC Technology, Oracle, Forcepoint, Fortinet, Mikrotik, Lenovo, Samsung, Dell, Spotify, HP and Cisco will either completely stop deliveries or temporarily close in Russia. For users of Microsoft, HP, Dell, Lenovo, Fortinet, Oracle and Cisco, leaving the market will lead to serious cybersecurity problems, as the software fix and update will stop working, and all subscriptions will be blocked. It seems that piracy in Russia is gaining momentum again soon.
In my opinion, blocking or leaving certain web services will not be a problem, many users have already mastered VPN technologies. As for the withdrawal of manufacturers of certain software solutions, this may become a problem. No matter how brave various officials are, at the moment not all software in Russia can effectively replace foreign samples at the proper quality level.
But, Russia has already passed sanctions pressure in the field of food production before. These sanctions will only give a powerful impulse to the development of IT companies in the country. And the Russian government has already begun taking measures to support the IT sector. On Wednesday, March 3, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced measures to support the domestic IT industry. For the next three years, market participants are promised to be exempt from income tax and inspections before regulatory authorities. Companies will also have access to preferential loans at a rate not exceeding 3%, and employees under the age of 27 will be granted a deferral from conscription and soft mortgage conditions.
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