History repeats itself! Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has unleashed a barrage of sanctions that have affected Russia in many ways. And, as you can imagine, these sanctions have also dealt a heavy blow to the technology sector , something very similar to what happened with Google and Huawei services.
Google has blocked its payment system in the app store for users from Russia. This measure is due to the sanctions against several Russian financial institutions, which were left out of the SWIFT system, an international platform for interbank payments.
This measure has not only affected users but also developers. For this reason, a team of Russian developers is working on its own payment system , to continue certain operations in the country and to be able to cope with these sanctions.
NashStore, the Russian alternative to Google Play
Due to these sanctions, both users and developers of Google Play and YouTube have been left in a kind of limbo. There is no way to pay for an app or service . Something that these Russian developers want to solve as quickly as possible with the development of NashStore, an application store whose name means “our store”.
NashStore will be supported by the Mir Card payment system . This platform is expected to be available on May 9, a very important date in Russia, as the victory in World War II is celebrated. The symbolism is very obvious, which they probably intend to use to boost the morale of the Russians in times of so much uncertainty.
Will payments on Google Play return to Russia?
It is too early to give an answer to this. Most likely, as long as the war continues, the sanctions will continue and perhaps deepen . What this news does make clear, once again, is that the globalized world has several disadvantages. Especially when a country has such a marked technological dependency, as is the reality of many regions in the world.
Source| Reuters
