How 1C has become Russia’s number 2 enterprise software publisher

Bloomberg reporters Ilya Khrennikov and Alexander Sazonov offer a portrait of Boris Nuraliev, who “basically created an entire industry” by founding and developing 1C. Launched 26 years ago, this company has become a leading seller of enterprise accounting program in Russia.

“The economic downturn of 2014 kick-started sales among bigger customers, who sought to cut costs just as a drop in the ruble made imports more expensive and President Vladimir Putin urged companies to replace foreign technology with homegrown products,” write the authors.

Last year the company’s annual revenue increased 6 %, to 37 billion rubles ($650 million), giving 1C a third of the Russian market for enterprise applications software, second only to SAP’s 49 percent, according to researcher IDC.