IT companies with foreign control will not be able to receive accreditation from Russia's Digital Development Ministry - project

MOSCOW. March 6 (Interfax) - Russia's Ministry of Digital Development has prepared a draft government resolution amending the rules for the accreditation of IT companies, the ministry said in a statement.

The project plans to introduce a criterion for verifying the presence of foreign participation in a company: the share of foreign persons in the capital of an IT company applying for accreditation should not be over 50%. This change is expected to come into effect on August 1, 2025.

In addition, the Ministry proposes to abolish the criterion for checking the share of income from IT activities for small tech companies created less than 3 years ago.

A company that received accreditation the year it was established will not have to undergo the planned confirmation procedure that year, project rules say.

The project also provides that IT companies from new regions be able to obtain accreditation regardless of their average monthly payments to employees. This benefit is expected to remain in effect until July 1, 2025.

Applications for the annual accreditation confirmation procedure are only accepted electronically via the Gosuslugi state services portal, the project rules say. In addition, as part of the accreditation confirmation procedure, salary verifications will be conducted for two quarters instead of five.

The Ministry of Digital Development conducts Russian IT company accreditation. Accredited companies may qualify for state support measures, such as reduced insurance premium rates, tax breaks, preferential loans, and exemption from inspections, etc. Entry in the register of accredited IT companies acts as confirmation that an IT company has state accreditation. The current rules state that accreditation can be obtained by companies that have registered "IT-OKVED" (use of computer and information technologies) as their main activity. The company's share of revenue from activities in the IT sector must be at least 30% and the average salary for its employees must be no less than the average for the country or entity in which the organization is registered. There is also a simplified procedure for obtaining state accreditation and a separate procedure for startups.