IT companies will have easier responsibility for public money

The Ministry of Economy will add the “right to risk” to the bill “On Technology Policy,” which will allow companies and investors in the technology sector not to be held responsible for the loss of public money in the event of project failure. To do this, companies will have to comply with risk management and decision-making procedures, which are still being worked out by the ministry. Experts believe that only with the condition of the “right to risk” will Russian technologies be able to develop independently, and not replace departed vendors.

Subject to risk management and decision-making procedures, technology companies and investors who received government funding will not be subject to claims if they do not achieve success, the Ministry of Economy told Kommersant. We are talking about the so-called right to risk; it is included in the draft law “On Technology Policy”, which the ministry is preparing as part of the concept of technological development until 2030 (see Kommersant on September 25).

Now the “right to risk” is spelled out in the law “On Science”, but the mechanism remains inoperative. Losses of government investments in technological assets are associated with the risks of criminal liability.

“The “right to risk” is being worked out both for technology companies and for subjects of state support (development institutions, state corporations, authorities, etc.). At the same time, for the latter, the “right to risk” will work on a portfolio principle,” the Ministry of Economy clarified. As the ministry explained to Kommersant, the admissibility of such a “right to risk” will be regulated by two rules. Firstly, if an entrepreneur complied with the established decision-making procedure (risk management system, collegiality, involvement of experts), then there is no reason to consider his actions dishonest (if there is no other information about offenses on his part). Secondly, the procedures must be followed by the operator of the support measures, that is, the investor.

To accelerate the creation of a market for high-tech developments in the Russian Federation, in 2023 the government granted the “right to risk” to VEB.RF – the state corporation, in the context of a decline in venture capital investments, can become the largest player in this market. The volume of investments in VEB.RF could amount to about 50 billion rubles; the state corporation supports a portfolio approach: “With this approach, even one successful investment can bring the portfolio into the black (a mandatory condition), leveling out the possible negative result of other projects within the portfolio.”

Associate Professor at the Higher School of Business at the Higher School of Economics Nina Feodosiadi emphasizes that the distribution of responsibility between external experts for the current assessment of the potential of possible investments and through an integral assessment of the effectiveness of the entire portfolio can remove the barrier to the personal responsibility of officials for investing public funds in high-risk projects. “The question remains open whether these funds will reach truly high-risk technological projects or will be conditionally distributed among the big players,” she says. Professor of the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the Higher School of Economics Ivan Rodionov also has questions about the risk management procedure: it can be formal, for an effective assessment it will be necessary to create risk profiles, their indicators and conduct regular monitoring.

Now most innovation projects do not live up to expectations, says CDO Global director Andrey Kondratyev. According to Nikolai Komlev, director of the Association of Computer and Information Technology Enterprises, the “right to risk” will provide an opportunity for more creative development of domestic technologies: “Now most enterprises in the field of electronics, IT and investment funds are investing either in analogues of existing Western solutions or in expanding existing production facilities. With such investments, we will remain secondary in the global market.” However, Mr. Komlev added that it is also necessary to create mechanisms for evaluating projects or mandatory private co-financing, since there is a risk of an increase in unfair applications.

Timofey Kornev, Diana Galieva