The infrastructure was given atomic weight – Newspaper Kommersant No. 195 (7396) of 10/20/2022

Rosatom established JSC Research and Production Association “Critical Information Systems” (NPO KIS), which will produce electronics and electronic components. According to Kommersant, the company will take over the integration and partly the production of equipment for critical information infrastructure entities (banks, telecom operators and energy companies). NPO KIS will work in partnership with MCST, which produces Elbrus processors, experts believe.

Kommersant found in the SPARK-Interfax database that the state corporation Rosatom on September 19 established JSC NPO KIS with an authorized capital of 500 million rubles. and the main activity is “production of elements of electronic equipment”. Aleksey Titarenko, chief designer of the All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics, became the company’s CEO.

According to Kommersant’s interlocutor in the electronics market, NPO KIS plans to develop equipment for critical information infrastructure: “Now the company is collecting market data on what equipment and components are already being produced by Russian companies, and which ones still need to be developed.” Rosatom itself did not respond to Kommersant’s requests.

Critical information infrastructure (CII) is equipment, information systems, telecommunications networks, telecommunication networks that are critical for key areas of the state’s life. CII subjects include organizations and enterprises that own such infrastructure (banks, telecom operators, energy companies, etc.).

The interlocutor of Kommersant, close to Rosatom, says that the NGO will be engaged in “creating an ecosystem of CII solutions” first for the state corporation itself, and then for other market participants. A source in the market specifies that in the future the NPO wants to produce “a wide range of components and equipment: from printed circuit boards to computer technology.” This version is also confirmed by the top manager of a major Russian IT integrator, referring to Presidential Decree No. 166 of March 30.

We are talking about the decree “On measures to ensure the technological independence and security of the critical information infrastructure of the Russian Federation.” According to the document, companies from March 31 cannot purchase foreign software and equipment for use at their facilities, and from January 1, 2025 they will be prohibited from using foreign software and equipment to ensure the operation of CII. The decree also obliges the government to “ensure the creation and organization of the activities of a research and production association specializing in the development, production, technical support and maintenance of trusted software and hardware systems for critical information infrastructure.”

Executive Director of the Association of Russian Developers and Manufacturers of Electronics Ivan Pokrovsky suggests that NPO KIS will become an integrator for Russian developers: “Equipment for CII includes a wide range of electronics: from sensors, industrial controllers to telecom equipment and computer equipment. No company is capable of producing such a wide range of electronics on its own.” Therefore, he believes, the NGO KIS will to a greater extent perform the function of a coordinator, which will determine the standards and development strategy for the industry.

President of Zelax (produces telecom equipment) Sergey Sukhman emphasizes that if NPO KIS plans to produce equipment completely independent of foreign vendors, it will need to focus on processors and other microelectronic components that are independent of foreign licensors. “So far, only Elbrus even partially meets this criterion,” he says. MCST (which develops processors of this line) did not comment on possible cooperation with Rosatom. Other developers of domestic processors – Baikal Electronics and SPC Elvis – are developing processors under license from the British ARM.

Nikita Korolev