Sanctions are isolating Russia economically, but there is also little interest from companies in cooperating with the country. According to a survey, data exchange with companies in Germany no longer takes place.
Companies from Germany practically no longer process any data in Russia. This is the result of a current representative survey by the Bitkom industry association among companies from all sectors with 20 or more employees, which was published in Berlin. In the survey, not a single company declared that it would transfer personal data to Russia, for example to have it processed there by external service providers.
Before the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, Russia definitely played a role as a location for IT services in Germany. Last year, almost every tenth company (9 percent) transferred personal data to Russia and processed it there. “Russia isolated itself with the illegal attack on Ukraine – also in the digital world,” said Bitkom CEO Bernhard Rohleder. “Handling personal data requires trust and the rule of law, both of which have been destroyed in equal measure in Russia.”
IT service providers from Germany have also largely withdrawn from the Russian market. As a prominent example, Europe’s largest software company SAP decided in April to leave the Russian market. The company also accepted millions in profit losses.
The Russian IT industry is also suffering from a severe shortage of skilled workers. It is estimated that up to 170,000 IT professionals have left the country since the attack on Ukraine began. In order to prevent further emigration, Russian President Vladimir Putin had instructed the government to exempt specialists in the IT industry from income tax by the end of 2024.
