German Market Waiting for Russian IT Products

A panel discussion on Russian exports to Germany has been held at INNOPROM 2021.

“Today, we have the ‘ingredients’ needed to ‘soup up’ the entry of Russian IT products onto the German market. German experts admit that Russian IT products are often superior to German ones. This shows the demand for Russian technologies on the global market, including the German sector. But there are a few ingredients that need to be added: regulation and trust on the part of partners”, Andrey Sobolev, Russian Federation Trade Representative to Germany, said at INNOPROM 2021 during a panel discussion on exports to Germany as part of the Russian Export Centre’s Business Mission.

Matthias Schepp, chairman of the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce Abroad, confirmed the German interest in Russian IT developments, and added: “The level of IT products in Russia is undeniably at the top of the world markets”.

According to panel moderator Sergei Vologodsky, vice president of REC JSC, the share of information and communication technology exports in total services exports has seen an upward trend, growing over the past two years from 8.1% in 2018 to 12.7% in 2020:

“If we consider exports in terms of IT technologies, according to the Central Bank's statistics, last year there was a slight increase in exports, reaching almost $6 billion. At the same time, we have all been seeing the emerging trend of digitalisation in the industry over the last few years. Development institutions are doing their utmost to ensure that our industrial enterprises implement the most advanced digital solutions, which make them more competitive, and allow to produce higher quality products that are in demand not only on the Russian market, but also on foreign ones – new tools are being launched”.

Victor Taratukhin from SAP CIS, Anna Urumyan, head of the Representative Office of the Federal State of Lower Saxony in Russia, and Vasily Mashkin, deputy head of the Project Department at the Industrial Development Fund, also joined the shirtsleeves meeting with exporters.

Exporters had a chance to discuss with experts the existing barriers for Russian products, the requirements of the German market, and also to share their experience of communicating with their German partners.

In assessing this year’s session, Sergei Vologodsky noted that the German market is open for Russian IT producers, and several successful cases of exporters are a prime example. At the same time, further synchronisation of work between development institutions, business associations, and trade missions is necessary to increase the exports of Russian IT solutions, while the established support system can help in entering foreign markets.