Russian IT Companies Should Switch to Domestic Software – Putin

Russian IT companies must switch to domestically-developed software, otherwise, the state will not be able to use their products in some areas because of high-security risks, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday.

PERM (Russia) (Sputnik) — Speaking with representatives of IT-businesses during his visit to the Perm Territory, Putin insisted that Russian programmers should be more proactive in developing software for use in domestically-made hi-tech products.

​"As for security, there are things that are critical for the state, for the operation of certain industries and regions," Putin stressed, adding that the state does not want to face a situation where "somebody out there presses a button, and everything stops here."

According to a recent survey, the use of foreign software by Russian federal state information systems was not impacted by the country's switch to the import substitution policy. Only 3 percent out of 339 such systems are using the Russian-produced software and only two of them operating systems developed in Russia.

Russia decided to conduct the policy of import substitution after western countries’ decision to impose sanctions against Moscow over its alleged meddling in the Ukrainian crisis. Russia has denied the accusations and introduced food embargo on the states that resorted to restrictive measures against it.