MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/. Skype is not highly popular among ordinary users in Russia at present and domestic counterparts are being proactively developed and used for government institutions and the business, CEO of Telecom Daily information and analytical agency Denis Kuskov told TASS.

Microsoft will put an end to Skype this May, tech website XDA Developers said earlier. The latest update contains the line encouraging the users to shift to Teams service.

Microsoft purchased Skype in May 2011 exclusive because of the large global audience, Kuskov said. "The audience will certainly be moved to Teams now. Teams is like not working with us due to certain reasons. Therefore, even if there is a kind of a return of Microsoft, there will only be a small number of private users in Russia that continue using Skype," the expert said.

The import phaseout process was chosen as regards the business and government authorities and there is definitely no return to Western services planned, he added.

According to statistics presented by Telecom Daily, the audience of Skype users among Russian private businesses was not above 30% as of the end of 2024 and the service was largely used in regions of the country.