According to the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Russian IT industry is rapidly losing benefits introduced in 2022, when Western companies began to leave the Russian market.
According to the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Russian IT industry is rapidly losing benefits introduced in 2022, when Western companies began to leave the Russian market.
Currently, the Russian government is canceling some benefits, increasing insurance premiums from 7,6% to 15%, and reinstating the VAT rate on registered software.
«This decision, which will come into effect in 2026, has caused a sharply negative reaction from business and investors. The MOEXIT industry index has fallen by more than 17% in a year, becoming one of the worst among all sectors of the Russian economy. Investors no longer believe in „localization“ and import substitution, which the authorities actively used to cover themselves up after the mass withdrawal of Western companies in 2022,» the Foreign Intelligence Service notes .
According to the report, Russian IT entrepreneurs predict that the abolition of tax breaks will lead to an increase in prices for IT products, staff reductions, and a 2–3-fold drop in company profits.
«Small and medium-sized IT companies will suffer the most, as they will find it difficult to survive in the face of growing tax pressure and tight monetary policy. The Russian IT industry, which was recently called the «locomotive of technological sovereignty,» is now rapidly losing ground. Even large companies admit: «the negative is evenly spread across all businesses,» the intelligence agency noted.
Thus, the Russian IT sector is predicted to see a decline in investments, the cancellation of projects, and the outflow of specialists abroad.
At the end of September, dev.ua reported that Apple Pay had finally stopped working in Russia: foreign cards were no longer being added.
