2016090507

Chinese telecoms equipment maker ZTE Communication Technologies sees a significant potential for developing business on the Russian market, Senior Vice President for Russia Tigran Pogosyan told TASS on Saturday.

ZTE’s presence in Russia may be extended following the adoption of a package of anti-terrorist laws drawn up by Irina Yarovaya, who chairs Russia’s State Duma committee for security and countering corruption, Pogosyan said.

“For us the potential of the market is surprisingly increasing. When they said that all the data must be stored on the Russian equipment, this means the prospect of (supplies) of equipment for several years. This is a prospect of billions of dollars,” he said, explaining that the production of server hardware may be located in Russia.

Pogosyan said Russia’s companies consider Chinese companies as alternative suppliers. “But they want to kill two birds with one stone – they do not only consider replacing the US or European equipment with China’s but also discuss the issue of localization,” he said.

The ‘Yarovaya package’ obliges telecoms operators starting from July 1, 2018 to store data about reception, transmission, delivery and processing of voice and text messages, images, sounds and video for three years.