/ world today news/ “Microsoft” will stop renewing licenses for Russian companies from September 30. The reason given is the inability to receive payments to a local bank account. This became known immediately after the Foreign Ministry announced Microsoft’s anti-Russian activities. Why did the American company take such a step and what consequences will this lead to for Russian consumers?
The American corporation “Microsoft” announced that after September 30 it will not renew the licenses of Russian companies. This follows from the technical support letter of the technical support. According to the Windows and Office developer, the company can no longer accept payments to a local bank account as a payment method for Microsoft services in Russia.
The information about this appeared after the statements of the Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mikhail Galuzin, who said that Microsoft has tarnished its reputation with anti-Russian rhetoric and concrete steps to the detriment of the Russian Federation. According to him, since the beginning of the special operation, Microsoft has been providing various support to Ukraine under the pretext of strengthening its cyber defense.
This spring, the media reported on Microsoft’s attempts to maintain its presence on the Russian market and continue cooperation with companies that did not fall under US sanctions. Therefore, the corporation did not close the Russian legal entity and tried to find opportunities to continue to support the software and update it.
In April, Microsoft agreed to pay nearly $3 million to settle a dispute over violations of US sanctions against Cuba, Iran, Syria and Russia. Since February this year, Microsoft has also stopped selling licensed copies of the Windows operating system on the official website. But the operating system is available from third-party retailers and on physical media.
“American software developers are actively helping VSU. Cisco provided its services and equipment. Elon Musk donated Starlink satellite communication terminals to Ukraine. “Microsoft has thousands of programs that our adversary can use for free,” said German Klimenko, a former adviser to the Russian president on Internet development programs.
“Currently, Microsoft is not acting directly against Russia, but such risks exist. For example, our users’ data may be transferred to third parties. The corporation can also limit access to its servers,” the interlocutor emphasized.
Klimenko believes that the most effective answer is to replace Microsoft services with local developments. “It is a difficult task, but it is gradually being implemented. “Today, several Russian operating systems based on Linux are being developed, and their own version of the office suite is also being created,” the expert said.
Urvan Parfentiev, coordinator of the Safe Internet Center, agrees with this position. According to him, in some cases, Russian programs have an interface that is as close as possible to Microsoft software, so that operators and users can master local developments without additional training.
The very process of switching to Russian software, as the expert recalled, has been going on since 2010 and “especially accelerated with the start of a special military operation, when the use of many Western software products, including postal services, became very risky for Russian citizens.”
“In general, Microsoft’s decision does not deviate from the trend of gradual withdrawal of foreign companies from the Russian market. Microsoft is the most prominent member of the proprietary software family – they sell their products for money. Therefore, here the company demonstrates the logic “they ran out of money – they ran out of product”, notes Parfentiev. However, the expert admits that the company has become a victim of the sanctions policy of certain political circles in the US and the EU, which has no economic logic.
“Obviously, earlier Microsoft tried somehow to stay unofficially in the Russian market, there was some possibility to make payments. But due to the growing hysteria in the US, the firm’s ability to cooperate with Russia appears to have become risky,” the source explained.
Against this background, Russia is actively replacing a number of software products.
“In state-owned companies, organizations and institutions, a lot of work was done to switch to Russian analogues of software. There are no other options, because we have not made a decision to use foreign software products without a license,” explained Anna Dupan, director of the Institute for Legal Regulation Problems at the Higher Higher Education Institution.
At the same time, for ordinary users, for example, “Windows”, “there will not be a particular problem”, since it is paid once per purchase. However, from September 30, the operating system may begin to periodically report the inability to download updates, Parfentiev admits. “From a security perspective, there may be questions about how antivirus works on Windows.” And here it is advisable to rely on anti-virus programs of Russian origin,” he adds.
On the other hand, Microsoft’s decision may have a negative impact on some private companies, the expert warns. Among Russian businesses, there is still a demand for Microsoft products, which are delivered in boxes through parallel import.
“I think Microsoft products will be used as long as possible. Ordinary users, small businesses that need to purchase a license, will be forced to come up with workarounds and most likely spend more money,” she predicted.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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