OREANDA-NEWS  Russian IT companies have signed a charter on voluntary restriction by software developers of the outstripping annual price growth for their software. This is reported by an Interfax correspondent from the signing ceremony held within the framework of the CIP conference.

Deputy Head of the Ministry of Finance Maxim Parshin clarified that according to the charter, the price increase will be limited by the inflation rate plus 15%.

"We are not talking about freezing prices, we are talking about some kind of reasonable restriction. This is inflation plus 15%," Parshin said during the signing ceremony of the document.

According to him, the Ministry of Finance considers the established size of the price growth restriction to be balanced.

"Of course, companies need resources to develop their businesses and products. But it should not be the case that these resources are obtained due to some kind of abuse of the current market situation. The growth should be mainly due to sales volumes, the number of licenses sold, the volume of services rendered. But price growth is generally possible, but again within some reasonable reasonable limits," the deputy minister said.

In addition to setting a ceiling for price increases, the charter participants also agreed that by bringing new, more functional software of the same class to the market, they will preserve and maintain the previous product for at least a year, limiting the maximum annual price increase for it to the above-mentioned maximum price threshold.

The prerequisites for signing the charter were the risks of a significant increase in the cost of replacement software for clients from state corporations and government agencies, which are associated with the need for an urgent and economically costly transition from foreign to domestic software, the participants of the signing of the charter said.

"The Price Charter is of a precautionary nature and is directed against excessive price increases for existing software used to replace imports. In general, the industry is dominated by the understanding of the need to balance the interests of software developers and their customers. We are all in the same boat," said Valentin Makarov, President of the Russoft Association.

According to Nikolay Komlev, Executive Director of the APKIT Association, the charter is focused on solving a large–scale task - forced accelerated import substitution of all sectors of the economy. "APKIT generally adheres to the principles of a free, competitive model of the economy, including pricing. We consider self-restraint of business in this area as an important, socially responsible, but temporary measure," he added.

The initiators and signatories of the document were the leading industry IT associations of the country - APKIT, Russoft, ARPP "Domestic Software". Among the companies that were the first to join the charter – 1C, Basalt SPO, Kaspersky Lab, MoyOfis and many others.