The Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Antimonopoly Service criticized the import substitution program of the Ministry of Communications

    Today, June 30, the Ministry of Communications will submit to the Government a draft resolution on restricting government purchases of foreign software. The latest version of the document says that it is necessary “in order to protect the domestic market of the Russian Federation, develop the national economy, and support Russian producers”. Since 2016, government agencies will be able to buy foreign software only under the following conditions: in the registry there are no programs of the required class; There are programs, but they do not fit the technical specifications; Information about such software or purchase is a state secret.

    However, the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Antimonopoly Service did not agree with such restrictions. The Ministry of Finance suggests giving the opportunity to purchase foreign software in order to "finalize, expand or renew the licenses for the software they already use." If this is not done, then it will be necessary to spend additional funds from the federal budget, according to the department. The FAS fears that in an attempt to circumvent restrictions, government agencies will specifically indicate in tenders functions that are not implemented in Russian software. FAS also proposes to introduce nationwide uniform prices for software from the registry of domestic software. This will prevent further price increases.

    Departments could not come to a common denominator in these matters, therefore, the bill will be submitted to the government with a table of disagreements.

    “Most of the tenders are to extend or expand the functionality of already used systems. They do not even consider the possibility of switching to domestic solutions. However, renewal of licenses, their additional purchase and refinement of the system sometimes cost no less than the introduction of Russian products, " told Kommersant the executive director of the Russian Software ARPP Evgenia Vasilenko.

    Earlier, the Ministry of Economic Development opposed the initiative of the Ministry of Communications to create an autonomous non-profit organization (ANO) to finance developers of domestic software.

    Megamind wrotethat the Ministry of Communications has already prepared a detailed list of projects under the import substitution program. The department asks for 18 billion rubles for the implementation of all projects from the list. Implementation of projects is planned for a period of 10 years. The Ministry of Communications plans to receive this amount in 3-5 years.

    However, the Ministry of Communications did not propose a mechanism for further financing. Therefore, it is impossible to evaluate either the prospective budget expenditures, the estimated number of employees, or the timing of the projects, explained"Vedomosti" in the Government. The charter of the ANO provides for entrepreneurial activity, but does not describe the further use of the income received. In addition, the Ministry of Economic Development considers the cost estimate for the ANO itself to be overestimated. Government grants should go only to salaries of developers, explained the Minister of Communications Nikolai Nikiforov.

    Among the possible sources of financing, Nikiforov mentioned the anti-crisis fund. “The sources may be different. But we believe that this is one of the most important infrastructure investments in import substitution, ”he said.

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