In government procurement, companies should give priority to competitive domestic software and IT technologies, Putin said last Friday at a meeting in Novosibirsk. State-owned companies should publicly disclose information on the share of Russian software products they use, the prime minister's words are quoted on his official website. Putin instructed the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to develop the necessary amendments to the laws.

This idea was proposed to Putin by Natalya Kaspersky (co-founder of antivirus developer Kaspersky Lab and CEO of Infowatch), Kaspersky told Vedomosti. Large foreign software developers offer discounts during government procurement that Russian companies cannot offer, she explained. And sometimes large developers offer, for example, a leak protection system for free in addition to antiviruses that state companies purchase. In such situations, Russian developers do not even make it into the tender, despite the fact that they protect against leaks in Russian better than their foreign competitors, Kaspersky complains. Putin publicly promised to encourage Russian state companies to purchase domestic products.

True, according to the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), of which Russia became a member in December last year, the country cannot limit competition by giving preferences to local companies. The WTO fights protectionism, and any member country that has suffered from it can complain and demand the abolition of protectionist measures. "At the same time, we will have to act carefully so as not to completely destroy the competitive environment, and we cannot close our own market to foreign producers," the prime minister concluded.

Putin's statement is more of a moral incentive than administrative pressure, believes Valentin Makarov, president of the Russoft association, who took part in the meeting in Novosibirsk. But this measure, in his opinion, can only stimulate demand for boxed products, and among the largest Russian software developers there are also Internet companies (Yandex, Mail.ru), as well as developers of custom programs, such as Luxoft. Together with other steps, the publication of the share of expenses for the purchase of Russian software in government spending should help domestic programmers, Makarov hopes.

Vladimir Putin supported Russian programmers