Experts from the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) surveyed Brazilian businessmen and prepared a report on entry points for Russian IT companies. The conclusion: the market is large but deeply tied to American technologies, and therefore vulnerable. Brazilian logistics, energy, and banks rely on Washington's GPS, servers and computers run on Intel and AMD processors, and search and operating systems are almost monopolistically covered by Google and Windows services.
The main constraint for Russian exports is not competition, but the tax system, where rates overlap at federal and municipal levels, and the maximum ceiling goes beyond forty percent. Added to this are high key interest rates and sanction barriers: Brazilian banks block transactions with Russian counterparties, forcing payments in dollars or euros through third parties. Blockchain and tokenization are discussed as workarounds, but cryptocurrency is still prohibited as a means of payment in Russian jurisdiction.
The paradox of the Brazilian market is that despite all the regulation, the demand for technological sovereignty is maturing there. RIAC experts named cybersecurity as the strongest competence of Russian companies, and Brazil is precisely seeking independence in this area. Fintech, EdTech, and industry-specific software for the agricultural sector are three more niches where solutions accumulated by Russian developers can enter without a head-on collision with American giants. The report also notes that Russian and Brazilian fintech developed along a similar trajectory, which creates a basis for technological exchange.
RIAC analysts advise against trying to enter the market with a boxed product alone, but rather to look for a local partner who will undertake the tropicalization of the software and guide the product through local regulation. Brazil remains a closed country, but the number of companies ready for international expansion is growing there. Those who manage to integrate into this process at the pilot stage, according to the report's authors, will gain access to Latin America's largest IT market.
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