MEP believes sanctioning Russia’s IT industry a must

Western sanctions are already affecting the IT industry in Russia, while additional sanctions against software and IT services produced in Russia will exert additional pressure on Putin’s regime, which is a necessary thing.

That’s according to Petras Auštrevičius, Member of the European Parliament (Lithuania), who spoke with Guildhall, as reported by Ukrinform.

“It seems that we will also have to resort to sanctions against the Russian IT sector, since we have no other way but to increase sanctions pressure, it is only a matter of time. Today, Western businesses use programs and services that are produced in Russia or supplied from Russia, and they will have to find other suppliers, in other countries, for example in Ukraine,” the politician said.

“I think it's really only a matter of time before we introduce these sanctions. The IT industry in Russia is already suffering from sanctions imposed in response to the terrible crimes of Russia’s ruling regime, and such new sanctions will bring additional and necessary pressure. This is a reasonable initiative for the European Union member states and the international community in general,” said Petras Auštrevičius.

Earlier, Oleksandr Danyliuk chief of the Center for Defense Reforms, coordinator of the interagency platform for countering hybrid threats, operating within the framework of Ukraine-NATO cooperation platform, said that as part of the response to the aggressive war Russia is waging against Ukraine and cyber attacks being launched against Western nations, the international community should impose sanctions on the purchase of any software products and IT services that are even partly produced or rendered in Russia or Belarus. Such a move would put serious pressure on the Russian economy and make import substitution impossible in the IT industry, which Russia badly requires, as well as accelerate the outflow of IT professionals from the country.