why don’t they pay
RTM Group reports that unpaid work by programmers working for large outsourcing projects has grown in recent months. Socialbites.ca cites the law firm as noting several dozen such cases in the last eight weeks. The firm describes a pattern where clients who hire software development teams fail to settle bills, often after projects are delivered.
The group explains that the core issue is the way some outsourcing agreements are handled and the legal steps available to recover losses. In one high-profile instance, about 30 million rubles remained unpaid to a team of outsourced programmers, a dispute linked to a major client in the Russian IT sector.
Clients are typically corporate entities providing software development services who work through external contractors. RTM Group says it frequently partners with IT litigation specialists to pursue compensation and press for transparency in project accounting. In several cases, clients have been accused of withholding evidence of the work performed, complicating proceedings for the developers involved.
two reasons for nonpayment
Experts at RTM Group identify two main drivers behind the frequency of nonpayments to outsourced developers.
The first relates to changes in data handling and project management tools. With the departure of the Jira scheduler from Russia and reported security concerns on GitHub, some clients push programmers to operate inside the company’s closed systems. Jira is commonly used to track tasks and record developer activity, while GitHub hosts collaborative projects among programmers from multiple companies and countries. When clients require internal tracking tools, developers can lose access to evidence of their contributions, making it harder to prove authorship and demand payment.
Estimations from RTM Group indicate that when development happens within a client’s data warehouse, roughly one in five projects ends in a dispute. In such arrangements, developers often lack the means to sue over missing evidence or contract terms. The second factor is budget pressure. Some client companies try to cut costs by delaying or withholding payments owed to third party vendors, including outsourcing providers.
Jira is not guilty
Representatives from Russian IT firms offer a different take. Dmitry Parshin, head of the Artezio development center (part of the Lanit group), told Socialbites.ca that nonpayment issues are not caused by restricted access to planning tools. He notes that similar services to Jira exist and can be substituted with other accounting tools. Few companies rely exclusively on a single tool to assess work and determine payments.
In a parallel view, Nikolai Potapov, head of business development at Reksoft, argues that changes in budgets rather than tool access drive contract outcomes. He explains that many Russian clients are reassessing IT programs and priorities, with some projects being concluded or altered as a result.
You can’t delete it, it’s useless to sue
IT professional Ivan Barchuk told Socialbites.ca that large Russian firms may act in bad faith when it comes to payments. He recalls past experiences dating back to 2012 and notes that financial crises tend to trigger cost cutting in software development. He explains that agreements signed without a formal contract leave room for disputes, and that some projects are abandoned entirely when they are no longer needed.
Barchuk adds that when a project is active, there is a temptation to either delete or corrupt work to avoid recognizing the value of the delivered software. He warns that such actions could amount to illegal activity and cites relevant Russian criminal code provisions on unauthorized access to computer information, creation and use of malicious programs, and disruption of storage or processing systems.
From his perspective, suing for unpaid wages is often not profitable due to long timelines and uncertain outcomes. Proving the existence of developed software can be more challenging than proving a physical construction project, and expectations about payment beyond contractual amounts are not always realistic in his view.
The West also “beats”
Barchuk observes that delays or nonpayments can occur with foreign clients as well. He notes particular risk when dealing with nations listed as non-friendly, including the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, and many European Union countries. Industry leaders from Artezio and Reksoft confirm that payment issues frequently relate to cross-border exchanges and the role of intermediary banks. Delays can arise from banking controls and manual checks by security services, especially in transactions involving multiple jurisdictions.
Parshin of Artezio expresses confidence that nonpayment problems can be mitigated by designing a payment system that works under sanction conditions. He recommends clear client agreements and a careful assessment of the ability to transfer funds through chosen intermediary banks. The overarching advice is to rely on dependable partner banks that can facilitate payments to foreign counterparties despite evolving regulatory constraints.
how to insure
RTM Group suggests that artists in this sphere preserve evidence of completed tasks through alternative means when Jira and GitHub are not allowed by the client terms. Experts endorse video recording as a robust approach to capture the development process in real time, offering a strong record of work completed and preventing future disputes with unscrupulous contractors. IT specialist Ivan Barchuk also recommends maintaining a personal diary to document the outsourcing workflow and decisions.
He highlights several risk factors for developers considering a project. Agreements without a formal contract, a single client accounting for a large share of business, and contracts that only specify a monetary payment without clear milestones raise the likelihood of payment difficulties. In such setups, the chance of money being owed but unpaid increases, leaving developers exposed to financial risk and project instability.