THE INDUSTRY OF IT REQUESTS THE SUPPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT TO AVOID BANKRUPTCY

The Russian companies, working in the field of information technologies, have asked the Ministry of Communications to include them in the register of the sectors of the country's economy that should be considered the most affected by the global crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Professional Association (APKiT), that includes leading Russian IT companies, sent the letter, addressed to Maksut Shadayev. The letter was signed by Nikolay Komlev, the executive director of the association.

The area of information technologies, according to the head of the association of IT companies, is one of the first victims of the crisis due to a sharp decrease in the purchasing power of customers. The companies are forced to bear unforeseen expenses. Highly qualified specialists in the field of software development will be forced to leave their workplaces of such companies as “1C”, ABBYY, “Kaspersky Lab” and others.

The digital transformation, the changes in the country's economic structure and all that officials spoke about before the pandemic, could be delayed for a long period, if the crisis drags on. It is clear that many companies may not survive this period.

It is still difficult to say, how the state will respond to the appeal of the IT industry. The paradox is that there are no companies that could demonstrate the catastrophic consequences of the current crisis in this area. Unlike the tourism industry or restaurant business, which obviously suffer from the losses, caused by sanitary and epidemiological measures, many software engineer s continue to work remotely, which means that there is no direct impact.

However, in the absence of support, the industry could seriously suffer in the future. The fact is that it is the introduction of IT results that increases labor productivity, and a decline in this area can lead to a negative impact in the provision of public services.

Many proposals, related to anti-crisis measures in the industry, are not new. Previously, similar measures were proposed by representatives of other industries.

The specific events include the idea of a “green corridor” for foreign goods suppliers. Since the country has practically no assembly and production facilities for computer equipment and components, and the termination of air communications has seriously hindered supplies, the idea of organizing cargo charters is quite valid.

The companies are asking the government to postpone or suspend the measures in the industry of IT that were planned to be taken before the crisis as well - to postpone the validity of the law, requiring the preliminary installation of domestic software for six months (on January 1 of the next year), in particular. The draft law of FAS, which allows the regulatory body to acquire additional powers in relation to intellectual property, was criticized a lot and is also asked not to be discussed as it may make the situation in the industry even worse.