The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a new initiative aimed at strengthening the sanctions regime against states subject to restrictions by the Ukrainian government. According to the new amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Sanctions", it is planned to prohibit the use of software (software) and websites related to countries against which sanctions have been introduced, in particular, the Russian Federation.
Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov confirmed that the new draft law aims to amend the current legislation, expanding the list of sectoral sanctions. The main provisions of the proposed changes include:
- Ban on Software Developed in Sanctioned Countries: The bill prohibits the use of software developed by individuals or legal entities from sanctioned countries.
- Restrictions on Products of Companies with Under-Sanctioned Investments: Programs created by companies whose authorized capital is owned by under-sanctioned countries are prohibited.
- Prohibition of Software by Companies Controlled by Terrorist Organizations: Software owned by companies controlled by terrorist organizations or individuals will also be prohibited.
- Use of Code of Sanctioned Products: Software that uses the source code or object code of other sanctioned products is prohibited.
- Prohibition of Websites of Sanctioned Persons or Organizations: The draft law also proposes to prohibit access to websites belonging to persons or organizations subject to sanctions.
This initiative is a continuation of the campaign to block Russian services in Ukraine, which began back in 2018. At that time, popular social networks Odnoklassniki and VKontakte were banned, as well as Yandex services and some Russian software, in particular the accounting program 1C.
In April 2023, the IT Ukraine association appealed to the Ministry of Digital Transformation with an initiative to ban the use of Russian software in state-owned companies and businesses. The heads of the association noted that clones of Russian software re-registered in EU countries, such as BAS ERP, AmoCRM and Bitrix, are still operating in Ukraine, which should also be subject to sanctions.
