RBC reports Russia’s Digital Development Ministry plans to cut 15% of staff, with 2 deputy ministers possibly leaving

Source: RBC

Russia’s Digital Development Ministry plans to cut roughly one in seven employees as part of an ongoing reorganization, the Russian business news outlet RBC reported on May 6, citing a source.

The restructuring, which began about a month and a half ago, is considering reducing staff by up to 15 percent, the source said.

Two deputy ministers — Sergei Kuchushev and Alexander Shoytov — may leave the ministry, RBC’s sources said. No final decision has been made regarding Shoytov, one of those sources added. Yevgeny Khasin, who has headed the cybersecurity department since November 2023, may also depart, the sources said.

The ministry is also preparing to restructure its departments. The cloud services development department is planned to be merged with the artificial intelligence and big data development department, while the functions of the digital competencies and education development department may be transferred elsewhere.

A representative of the Digital Development Ministry declined to comment. The government also did not comment.

Russia’s Digital Development Ministry oversees all matters related to information exchange and communications in the country. The ministry was behind recent measures targeting VPN services in Russia. It is also working on a proposal to impose additional charges on international internet traffic.

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.

To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.