The head of the ministry, Maksut Shadayev, indicated that by the first day of summer the Ministry of Digital Development could remove a sizable group from the registry of accredited IT firms. The motive is a refusal by some organizations to disclose information that counts as tax secrets. This stance was reported by the publication Kommersant, which noted the potential impact on a portion of the sector as authorities tighten data-sharing requirements and oversight. While the ministry has not spelled out the exact number of firms at risk, the signal is clear: transparency on tax-related information is increasingly tied to accreditation status, and noncompliance may lead to removal from the official list used to identify approved tech providers.
Shadayev also outlined that eligibility for continued accreditation may hinge on a company’s compensation benchmarks. Specifically, organizations failing to meet regional and national wage averages could face exclusion from the registry. In Moscow, the threshold is around 150,000 rubles per month for average pay; in larger metropolitan areas with populations surpassing a million, the benchmark sits near 120,000 rubles; and in smaller cities, the standard drops to about 70,000 rubles. These figures reflect a broader policy goal to align accreditation with competitive compensation and to ensure that accredited IT firms maintain workforce standards consistent with local economic conditions. The government currently lists approximately 22,200 IT companies on the accredited registry, signaling a substantial ecosystem that could be influenced by these criteria as reforms unfold.
Last autumn, the government approved revised criteria for IT company accreditation, building on proposals initially put forward by the Ministry of Digital Development. The new framework emphasizes several key dimensions: the types of activities that a firm engages in, the proportion of revenue generated from IT-related work (with a minimum threshold of 30%), and the specific information that should appear on a company’s website. Additional requirements include the average monthly salary level for employees being at least the national or regional average, and explicit consent to the disclosure of tax-related information to tax authorities. Taken together, these rules aim to ensure that accredited IT companies operate with transparent governance, demonstrate value through measurable IT activity, and maintain workforce standards that reflect regional conditions. As the landscape evolves, stakeholders in the sector are watching closely how these rules are implemented, how strictly enforcement will be applied, and what pathways exist for organizations to regain or preserve accreditation while meeting the new criteria.