IT Companies Want to Remain on Russian Market Despite Sanctions - Official

05:29 GMT, 10 September 2018

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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Despite the fact that anti-Russian sanctions do indeed hamper the country's negotiations with international IT companies, these tech firms do not want to lose a share of the Russian, Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president's special representative on digital and technological development, told Sputnik on Monday.

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Peskov indicated that since assuming his post in July he had already met with the representatives of such companies as Facebook, SAP and Microsoft.

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"All [the companies] are assessing the risks, reducing the planning horizons. Everyone knows the situation's strategic importance, everyone knows that if the geopolitical restrictions are relaxed, [these companies] would love to be first on the [Russian] market," Peskov said in an interview ahead of the fourth Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).

He added that despite the Russian digital market not being really large, for some IT companies it might be critical.

Since 2014, Russia has been targeted by several rounds of the Western sanctions imposed on various pretexts, including the alleged interference in the Ukrainian conflict and meddling in the US election, which have never been substantiated.

The fourth EEF will be held on September 11-13 in Russia's Far East. The main event of the forum will be the plenary session "The Russian Far East: Creating a New Reality" with Russian President Vladimir Putin's participation.