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Russia's Communications Ministry reportedly agrees to ease costly anti-terrorism regulations on telecoms industry

Source: Kommersant

Russia’s Communications Ministry has reportedly acquiesced to a request from telecom operators to ease data-storage requirements imposed under the so-called “Yarovaya law.” According to the newspaper Kommersant, the industry has won another year’s reprieve before companies have to start increasing data-storage capacity by 15 percent annually for five years.

Ministry officials have also reportedly agreed to exclude from its calculations all video traffic, which has spiked since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The agency’s new position is reflected in measures designed to support Russia’s information technology sector.

Other support measures include a proposal to exempt the IT sector from payroll taxes, defer personal income tax payments, and lift value-added taxes on online education services, telemedicine, and grocery delivery services. 

According to Kommersant, telecom operators also requested the right to cut employees’ salaries by 20 percent or furlough staff at half pay. The Communications Ministry did not include these proposals in the policy measures it submitted to the federal government, however.

In 2019, “MTS” estimated that it would cost the company 50 billion rubles ($673.6 million) over the next five years to comply with the new requirements under the “Yarovaya law.” MegaFon said its five-year costs would be 40 billion rubles ($538.7 million), and VimpelCom estimated 45 billion rubles ($606 million).

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