About 90% of modern cable cars at Russian ski resorts operate on foreign software. They may fail due to lack of updates. This was stated by Dmitry Sidorovich, CEO of Ruslet (part of Vasta Discovery Group), one of the largest manufacturers of high-speed cable transport systems in Russia.
Currently, about 10% of the equipment of modern automated cable cars has already been converted to using domestic software, Sidorovich noted.
The remaining 90%, which operate on foreign software, frankly, carry risks.
Since March 2022, many European companies involved in the production of modern cable cars have begun to leave the Russian market.
When the first sanctions happened, they simply ran away, abandoned their equipment, without making any transition period.
Currently, many ski resorts in Russia operate on the basis of infrastructure that is not serviced or supported by manufacturers. As a result, the equipment is often equipped with counterfeit spare parts, which makes its use unsafe.
Control systems for cable lifts equipped with automation need to be updated every one to three years, Sidorovich claims. In most cases, cable car software in Russia has not been updated since 2022.
Therefore, in the near future, this equipment will begin to fail.
A cable car is a structure that is used to transport passengers and must be completely safe. In case of problems with the software, the risks increase, Sidorovich notes.
In Russia, cable cars are part of vital systems, said Svetlana Danilina, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Association of Ski Resorts, Territories and Services. Automated control systems are required for the operation of gondola lifts used at ski resorts. Simpler drag and chair lifts do not require such systems.
These automated control systems, in turn, are part of a critical information infrastructure.
They are really no longer supported by foreign firms.
Islam Ashkhotov, Director of the Information Technology Department of Kavkaz.RF, also confirmed that the lack of updates to foreign cable car control systems carries risks. According to him, the ski industry is in dire need of developing domestic analogues of software and systems.
Earlier it became known that a new cable car will be built across the Oka in Nizhny Novgorod. It will include three stations. The start of work is scheduled for the second quarter of 2025. Construction is scheduled to be completed in a year and a half.
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