The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation proposed to the government a package of 10 measures to support the IT industry in the face of sanctions. The main objective of the proposals is to keep software developers in the country and provide IT companies with opportunities for development.

Minister Maksut Shadayev sent a letter with a list of measures to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, asking him to support the proposals. Once approved by the government, the proposals will be implemented “as soon as possible”.

The document includes the following measures:

• extend the current tax incentives to IT companies that receive income from advertising, providing additional services in their applications and online services, and from the implementation, installation, testing and maintenance of partner domestic IT products;
• exempt IT companies from paying income tax and from inspections by regulatory authorities, and employees from paying personal income tax for three years;
• enable employees of IT companies to get preferential mortgages at a rate of 5% for the duration of their work;
• provide military deferment to employees of IT companies for the duration of their work in these companies;
• simplify the procedure for obtaining a work permit and a residence permit for foreign citizens hired to work in Russian IT companies;
• provide IT companies with grants for the development of digital products, develop a program with preferential loans for the implementation of domestic solutions at a rate of 1%;
• ensure accelerated import substitution of software at critical information infrastructure facilities with targeted budget financing through the sectoral competence centers that are being created;
• introduce preferential lending to IT companies to ensure uninterrupted operations;
• consolidate and stimulate government orders, including those from state-owned companies, to finance new critical developments (PLM, ERP, etc.) with an option of its execution by large IT companies without tenders and auctions;
• provide targeted financing for the creation of a “mirror” of the GitHub open-source software repository.

The Ministry of Digital Development noted that the proposals were developed taking into account the opinion of representatives of the IT industry. In addition, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko instructed the Ministry of Digital Development to speed up and update the preparation of the third package of measures to support the IT industry, based on the current economic situation.

Original (in Russian)