Izumrudov Oleg Valeryevich

Oleg Emerald

Emerald Oleg Valerievich is the CEO of ETegro Technologies, one of the leading players in the Russian server and data center market.

Biography, career

He graduated from the Moscow State Academy of Instrument Making and Computer Science. Prior to joining ETegro Technologies, he served as Director of Business Development at Atlantic Computers.

2021: Open letter on gross violation of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of import substitution

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Quotes, interviews

• ETegro: the specifics of Russian servers to the West are not by teeth - CNews interview

"The state is now the largest consumer of advanced technologies and this gives the development of the domestic IT industry as a whole" (from the report at CNews FORUM 2007)

We independently develop equipment and order it from leading contract manufacturers - the same ones that collect equipment for the most famous world brands. Thus, we get products of the same high quality, but at the same time we try to bring value added into it in the form of intellectual property and, thereby, offer customers solutions slightly better than competitors, but for the same money. I emphasize - mainly for the same money, because, unfortunately, we cannot compete on price with foreign manufacturers, since we do not have enough financial resources for this. Loan rates in Russia are extremely high, and in order for the application for a loan to be considered by the bank, it is necessary to pass almost DNA tests of all employees of the company. In Southeast Asia, the United States or Europe, just making an online request is enough. There are many world rankings on which countries are easiest to do business in. Russia, together with Belarus, consistently lead these ratings on the flip side, and one of the reasons for this phenomenon is the imperfection of the credit and banking system. What are our shortcomings for global manufacturers? They have lower cost of production and lower cost of finance, since there is a much larger market and, as a result, more turnover. These capabilities allow them to dictate their conditions to all other competitors. But we can resist this by generating ideas that big companies will never have, and that's enough to compete with them.

- We made attempts to establish exports and realized that we should either never do this, or open a company outside the Russian Federation and the CIS. Laws throughout the post-Soviet space are extremely similar to each other. There's something genetic about it. Even in the Baltics, which has long considered itself Europe and is very influenced by the European Union, some regulatory aspects severely limit business opportunities. Fighting this is difficult. It is easier to place production in another country and from there to export products to Russia, the CIS, and any other countries.

The law on the status of a domestic producer is still working the other way around. We faced situations when the status of a domestic manufacturer did not allow us to participate in some tenders for the supply of equipment. The law is designed in such a way that it is more profitable for customers to acquire a decision of a foreign manufacturer. The problem is that in Russia people have a very wary attitude towards everything domestic. It is hard for us, since we are a domestic company in the field of high-tech production. Despite the fact that our equipment is created in the same plants as the world's leading manufacturers, such as IBM, HP or Dell, when we communicate with customers, sometimes we are perceived as if we were offering Zhiguli against the background of a prestigious foreign car. And we have to fight a dismissive reaction only because we are a Russian company^[1]

- Many Russian electronics companies have closed. This was due to the fact that consumers do not want to buy domestic products. To survive in such conditions, Russian manufacturers register trademarks in Austria, China, Germany and other countries. They continue to produce products in Russia, but at the same time they are not called historical trademarks, but invent foreign ones - only then, so that in the mind of the buyer not to associate with a domestic company. Unfortunately, discrediting continues at the government level. For example, accidents that occur in the space and aviation industries lead to a rooted opinion in the minds of Russians that domestic equipment is unreliable. It is a shame that such an attitude towards Russian manufacturers is not only among ordinary people, but also among professionals. Two or three generations must change so that the bow to all foreign things, which arose during the USSR, leaves society.

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