Russia’s earnings from tech exports have jumped more than threefold over the last two years, according to a new report from Moscow’s Higher School of Economics (HSE).
The export sales of scientific and technology services and IP-protected products reached $4.5 billion in 2020 — up 30% from 2019, three times more than in 2018, and fifteen to twenty times more than in the early 2000s.
Stucture of Russian technology import and export by contract categories (in %, 2020)
Despite the jump in exports, the global competitiveness of Russian-made technology is difficult to assess. The largest market for Russia’s technology exports in 2020, accounting for almost $1 billion or a quarter of all sales, was the Netherlands — a low-tax jurisdiction where a number of Russia’s top digital companies, including Yandex and X5 Retail Group, are registered.
The U.S., Germany, Switzerland, China and Belarus also accounted for more than $250 million of Russian exports each.
Imports of foreign-made technology were stagnant in 2020 at $4.6 billion, bringing the technology trade deficit — the difference between Russian exports and imports of tech goods and services — to its lowest level since 2001.
Russia fears its reliance on Western technology — ranging from payment cards to computer operating systems — is a potential vulnerability should the West decide to levy more penalties on the country. It is also concerned foreign intelligence services could gain access to crucial Russian systems running on foreign software.
The Russian government Wednesday introduced new rules banning the purchase of foreign-made laptops, tablets, servers and circuit boards in government contracts.
This article is an adapted version of a story from The Moscow Times.
