With the German economy already suffering [5] (and AMD cutting its outlook), it appears Putin's promise to ensure Obama's action will see retaliation are starting to weigh as much on the rest of the world as Western media suggest US sanctions are weighing on Russia. This time, after blocking foreign cars and Intel/AMD chips [6], Bloomberg reports the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, is drafting a bill to require government agencies and state-run enterprises to give preference to local providers of software and hardware. For some context, IBM, Microsoft, HP, Cisco, Oracle, and Germany’s SAP SE had combined revenue of 285 billion rubles ($8.1 billion) from Russia (with 77% coming from government and SOEs). “This all has to do with sanctions,” warned one Russian politician.
Russia’s parliament is preparing new regulations to reduce its reliance on foreign technology suppliers after the U.S. imposed sanctions against some of its largest companies, a move that could hurt sales at vendors such as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)
The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, is drafting a bill to require government agencies and state-run enterprises to give preference to local providers of software and hardware, according to a document from the commission for strategic information systems obtained by Bloomberg News. The paper addresses criteria for tender processes such as favoring products that don’t have imported, licensed components.
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IBM, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Germany’s SAP SE had combined revenue of 285 billion rubles ($8.1 billion) from Russia last year, according to estimates by the Russian Academy of Sciences included in the commission document. About 77 percent of the sales were contracts from the government and state-controlled companies, it said.
With the lack of regulation in post-Soviet Russia that governs the award of technology contracts, foreign vendors account for 67 percent of software used in the country and about 90 percent of hardware, according to the commission. Foreign software may have hidden capabilities such as “bugs” and “backdoors,” giving suppliers access to confidential data, Chernogorov said.
“This all has to do with sanctions,” said Andrey Chernogorov, executive secretary of the commission, said in a phone interview. “Given the current international tensions, substituting imports with local software and hardware becomes the key to ensuring self sufficiency.”
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As Putin recently opined, the boomerangs are coming home...
“The US is certainly one of the world’s leaders. At some point it seemed that it was the only leader and a uni-polar system was in place. Today it appears that is not the case. Everything in the world is interdependent and once you try to punish someone, in the end you will cut off your nose to spite your face,” he said.
