The Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media has proposed transferring 1.3 billion rubles to Rosinfominvest for the creation of a domestic alternative to GitHub, according to an article in Vedomosti.
The amount has been sitting in the accounts of the Rosinfominvest Foundation since 2007 with no movement. The Russian Fund for the Development of Information Technologies (ORTS) will be the recipient of the funds, which will then be transferred to the Autonomous Non-Profit Organization (ANO) Open Code, which will develop the terms for the repository’s creation.
Open Code was established in April 2022, with founders including VKontakte, Rostelecom, Innopolis University, IT companies T1, and other organizations. According to a Vedomosti source, the government’s decision is expected soon.
In January 2020, the Ministry of Economic Development proposed the establishment of an open-code platform similar to GitHub as a precautionary measure for Russian developers if they can no longer use international repositories. GitHub started blocking the accounts of Russian banks following US sanctions in April 2022.