MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/. Many foreign software and computer technology manufacturers, as well as Internet services have suspended their activities in Russia due to sanctions that were imposed after the start of Russia’s special operation on protection of Donbass.
Meanwhile, the Russian media watchdog restricted access to some social networks. The government has already prepared special measures to support and develop the Russian IT industry.
TASS has collected basic information about the situation with foreign IT companies in Russia.
Computer technologies
- Oracle, one of the world's largest software developers, which creates systems for database management and resource planning, has halted its work in Russia.
- Autodesk, the largest supplier of software for construction and mechanical engineering, temporarily froze all operations. So did the American software and network equipment manufacturer Cisco Systems Inc.
- SAP, a German software manufacturer, announced the termination of its activities in Russia, and also temporarily stopped selling its services and products in the country.
- Saber Corporation, a software and technology maker for the US travel business, has terminated its distribution agreement with Aeroflot by deleting data on the Russian company's flights from its global air ticket booking system.
- The American developer EPAM Systems has temporarily stopped serving Russian customers.
- The Munich-based Siemens group, which supplies software, has suspended business and exports to Russia.
- Microsoft is not selling its products and services in Russia for the moment. Microsoft Office has disabled Russian language support in the Android mobile app.
- Intel and AMD, major manufacturers of processors, have decided not to ship their products to Russia for the time being, including client, server and graphic processors.
Social network
- Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor blocked Facebook in Russia after 10 days of traffic slowdown. This decision was made due to numerous cases of discrimination against Russian media and information resources by the social network, as well as the refusal to unblock the accounts of four Russian media.
- Access to Twitter in the country was also restricted by decision of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation on the basis of Article 15.3 of the Federal Law "On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection."
- Google temporarily does not sell contextual advertising of the Google Ads service on its platforms in Russia. This applies to both the search engine itself and YouTube video hosting. Earlier, the Russian media watchdog demanded that Google stop distributing fake information about the military operation of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine and restrict access to unreliable content as part of contextual advertising.
Internet Services
- Swedish audio streaming service Spotify has closed its office in Russia indefinitely. Music streaming service Deezer has decided to leave Russia. Russian customers will no longer have access to the service when the payment cycle is over.
- The eBay marketplace will temporarily not deliver orders to Russia "due to logistical delays."
- The PayPal electronic payment system is not providing services in Russia. However, clients will be able to withdraw funds "within a certain period of time."
- Online booking services for Booking.com hotels and Airbnb accommodation are no longer working with accommodation facilities in Russia.
- Rockstar Games (creators of GTA V, Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne) and Activision Blizzard (creators of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft) suspended sales of their games in Russia. The games that have already been purchased will be delivered to customers.
- The popular educational service Coursera closed access to courses created by Russian authors and universities, and also limited access to courses for users from the Russian Federation.
Support for IT industry in Russia
- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on measures to accelerate the development of the IT industry in the country. In particular, it is planned to simplify the procedure for employment of foreigners and obtaining a residence permit for them.
- In accordance with a presidential decree, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced new benefits: domestic IT companies will be exempt for three years from paying income tax, as well as inspections, they will be able to take loans at a rate of no more than 3%, industry employees will be able to obtain a preferential mortgage and deferral from military conscription for the duration of work.