OREANDA-NEWS  The Association of Domestic computer software Developers Russoft asked the authorities for 465 million rubles a year for the implementation of export support measures. This figure is indicated in the draft roadmap of the association sent to the Ministry of Finance. Vedomosti got acquainted with the document.

Russoft offered to launch an acceleration program designed to help 500 IT companies annually, within which the launch of their products to new markets will be stimulated. The Association considers it expedient to "consolidate the experience of leading accelerators," among which it names the Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF), the Skolkovo Foundation and the platform for interaction between technology startups and large Russian and international companies Generation S. It is proposed to select companies to participate in the program together with them.

Russoft has created a "preliminary financial model" of this acceleration program based on data relevant for January 2023, the representative of the association said. According to her calculations, the cost of acceleration for one company is about 1.2 million rubles, of which 20 percent is co—financed by the company itself and 80 percent by the state. It will be necessary to allocate 465.3 million rubles a year from the budget for 500 projects. The roadmap was developed together with the Russian Export Center (REC), which is part of the VEB group.The Russian Federation, as well as with the ANO "Digital Economy".

After receiving the project, the Ministry of Finance asked to justify its budget financing, in particular the acceleration program, said the president of Russoft, the president of the association Valentin Makarov. The agency asked to clarify "how these funds will be returned to the budget by taxes and other [payments] from the export growth caused by the application of these support measures."

Now Russoft is conducting a survey of market participants to formulate a justification for financing. It is planned to be completed by April. The association proposed to appoint REC and Digital Economy as operators of the program. They should create working groups to select projects for acceleration, coordinate requirements for them and other tasks.

In early March, Russoft gave a preliminary estimate of the total exports of domestic software developers over the past year — it amounted to $ 8.4-9.2 billion. This is 8-17 percent less than in 2021. Moreover, if in 2021 these companies were most active in the USA, Europe and the Middle East, then last year the main directions were the near abroad, South and East Asia, as well as the Middle East. Most of the sales were in Uzbekistan, the UAE and India. Representatives of Russian IT companies told Vedomosti that the most priority regions for export are now the countries of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the CIS.

Earlier in February, the association "Domestic Software", which unites 263 Russian IT companies, asked the authorities not to allow compulsory licensing of foreign software for engineers. They noted that Russian customers do not want to switch to domestic software on their own, and if foreign analogues receive a license, then foreign vendors such as Autodesk, SolidWorks, Altium will retain their influence.