Due to the conflict in Ukraine, Russia is facing sanctions from the West and tech corporations such as Google, YouTube, and Spotify are pulling out of the country.
Financial companies such as Visa, Mastercard and PayPal have also suspended their operations in Russia.
To resolve the suspension of Google Play Store, Digital Platforms, a Russian organisation that focuses on digital development, has announced it will be launching an alternative app store called NashStore on 9 May.
Key Highlights
- 9 May is also Victory Day, a national holiday in Russia that marks Germany's surrender to the Soviet Union in 1945.
- NashStore which translates to “OurStore”, is described as a mobile app store that caters to Android users in Russia.
- According to Reuters, NashStore is expected to be compatible with Russian Mir bank cards to allow transactions since users are not able to pay for any apps, subscriptions, or online purchases following the exit announcements by Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal.
- Vladimir Zykov, director of projects at Digital Platforms, mentioned that developers have lost their source of income after Google suspended usage of the Google Play store in Russia.
- On the other hand, Russian developers are also planning to develop an alternative social media platform for Instagram called, Rossgram after the former was blocked by Russian communications regulator, Roskomnadzor.
