Software increase the budget – Newspaper Kommersant No. 154 (7355) of 08/24/2022

By 2024, the public sector will increase spending on Russian software by 3.4 times compared to the last three years, the Ministry of Digital Development expects. The share of expenses of state-owned companies on domestic software will amount to 80% of all IT costs and may exceed 650 billion rubles. This is not surprising in the context of import substitution and sanctions, but experts are sure that most of the funds will go to state competence centers, and not to private business.

“Kommersant” got acquainted with the draft report of the Ministry of Digital Development to the President, agreed with the Ministry of Economy. It follows from the document that the purchase of domestic software has become “the most significant” in the cost structure of government agencies and government agencies. Taking into account “changes in external conditions, software market conditions and regulatory regulation in the field of IT”, state-owned companies have provisionally provided for a 3.4-fold increase in costs for Russian software by 2024 compared to the period of 2019–2021. This, according to the forecast of the Ministry of Digital Development, should lead to an increase in the share of spending on Russian solutions up to 80% of the total spending of state companies on IT.

In particular, 43 state-owned companies that submitted data will spend more than 934 billion rubles on IT solutions in 2021-2024, of which 650 billion rubles will go to Russian software and related work over this period, follows from the document. Kommersant did not respond to the Ministry of Digital Development and the Ministry of Economy.

At the end of 2020, the government expected that the share of domestic software in the cost of purchases should be at least 70% for state authorities and at least 50% for state corporations and companies with state participation (see Kommersant dated September 10, 2020). But due to the departure of Western players and the sanctions imposed since the spring of 2022, the demand for Russian software has grown by 300% both in government agencies and in business (see Kommersant on March 9). Office applications are the most in demand.

The integrator Softline “Kommersant” confirmed that they feel the growth in demand for Russian software from the public sector “tens of times.” “The highest demand is observed in the most significant segments for the work of the state apparatus — financial institutions and the fuel and energy complex,” said Dmitry Sorokin, Head of the Softline Domestic IT Solutions Development Department.

After the suspension of activities in the Russian Federation of many vendors, the choice of companies is between switching to domestic solutions and the risky use of foreign software without updates, “but the question of transferring developments and functionality that was created for products of foreign vendors remains open,” says T1 Group CEO Igor Kalganov.

Despite the current situation, there will not be a serious increase in purchases in the field of information technology from the private sector, as well as a multiple increase in sales from IT companies, they will grow by 10–15% at most, predicts the founder of the Telegram channel “All about the brain, blockchain and digital economy” Ani Aslanyan. In her opinion, rather, the department is counting on competence centers (CC), “after all, each CC is a state corporation in a certain area, which will first create software, and then organize public procurement, that is, the state will buy from itself.” In July, on behalf of the government, the Ministry of Digital Development began to form 35 industry-specific central committees to replace foreign “industry digital products.” The state will co-finance their work from the Bortnik, Skolkovo and RFRIT funds.

Allocating 80% of software costs is not an imbalance, but a reflection of the current situation, “sanctions are for a long time, therefore, the public sector in the next couple of years will be able to purchase only domestic software and services – Western software will not be sold to us, as well as new equipment,” the director believes Association APKIT Nikolai Komlev. According to this logic, it is quite justified to direct 80% of the funds for the purchase of domestic software, there is nothing else for now, he believes. However, Mr. Komlev emphasizes that the authorities should provide funds for the purchase of “iron”, which now cannot be legally supplied to Russia, and is assembled in the country from foreign components. “I’m surprised why no state program to expand the production of processors and computers in the Russian Federation is publicly discussed,” he wonders.

Tatyana Isakova