One of the major risks facing the Russian industry IT is a takeover of domestic companies by Western giants, stated a yet unpublished development strategy plan for the industry, as reported by the business daily Vedomosti. To minimize this risk, the Ministry of Communications, which produced the document, proposes to include “some” IT companies in the list of Russian strategic enterprises.
Being included in this list imposes a serious constraint on a company. Foreigners cannot gain control of such a company without the permission of the government commission on foreign investment.
The idea of announcing a strategic technology industry is not new. In 2009, then-President Dmitry Medvedev said that the state should control the Internet companies. The Ministry of Communications reported that it was already preparing the criteria for inclusion in the list of strategic enterprises. This did not happen, but, in 2009, Yandex, Russia’s largest search engine, gave Sberbank, the sate-owned savings bank, a “golden share.”
In 2012, several deputies from the Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament, suggested adding major online services and any print media to the list of strategic enterprises.
The Chairman of the Board and Founder of NVision Group, Dmitry Taraba, asserted, “companies engaged in the development of unique products in the field of hi tech and cyber security should be included in this list. In the first place, Kaspersky Lab.”
“NVision itself also has units that are engaged in cyber-security and innovative designs, and these activities could be of strategic importance,” he added.
However, defending system integration does not make sense. Domestic integrators have proven that they can defend their interests even in the fight against major world players, concludes another unnamed businessman.
Alexander Kalinin, the President of NKK, (which tops CNews’ list of the largest IT companies in 2012) stated that, “the benefit of including IT companies in the list of strategic enterprises is questionable. This label limits a company’s ability to attract investment. An open market is always wider and offers more prospects.”
“The IT sector is different from the oil and gas sector because it only has human resources. A company may be declared strategic, but this does not stop people who are working there from leaving the country,” noted Dmitry Komissarov, co-founder of open source software company Rosa.
The Deputy Minister of Communications, Mark Shmulevich, affirmed, “it is unclear whether the Ministry of Communications’ proposals will be included in the final version of the strategy.”
