The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation wants to give Russian companies the opportunity to pay for licenses for software whose developers have left the country. According to Kommersant, the ministry may allow organizations to transfer money for such software to special accounts on demand of the copyright holder.
It is also reported that the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation simultaneously plans to “decriminalize” pirated foreign software.
The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation did not comment on the Kommersant article. But on December 28, at a webinar about the IT results of the year, Minister Maksut Shadaev said that in Russia it is necessary to create conditions for business in which it can use foreign software.
Recall that on August 19, 2022, Deputy Dmitry Kuznetsov submitted to the State Duma a bill on compulsory software licensing. Later, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation criticized the document, calling it incomplete.