Abstract :
Russia is a vast territory with seemingly endless natural resources. Indeed, gas, oil, coal, and lumber still constitute by far the largest part of Russian national produce, accounting for over 80 percent of exports. It is easy to overlook the software industry against this background, yet it is one of Russia´s promising industries. Russia also has one of the largest pools of technical specialists in the world-a 1997 World Bank/UNESCO study stated that more than one million people are involved in research and development. The author provides a history of programming in Russia, an overview of Russian software companies, and problems and perspectives
