unmanned cargo trucks have started in Arctic. The tech may be related to the Atom EV as they are same management. Arctic among highest priority in spending. They will be getting more satellite coverage and UAV.
Russia Economy Thread
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Russia has created 7 countries consortium for North-South Trade. Its grand scheme of multiple Roads , Railways, Ships access to Indian ocean through various countries. First time i see UAE talking about it in Conference.
Aurus brand want to present updated model of hydrogen Senat Sedan with increased range end of 2023 in UAE. Either the prior 600 Km range version not sufficient or that range could not be replicated in real conditions. There others Plug In hybrid and EV version of Aurus brand vehicles coming in 2025.
South African firm to make composite blades for Mil helicopters in UAE for the helicopters already sold in African market. its large market. i think they may hire people in Ex Soviet states at higher wages as UAE is not cheap country.
South African firm to make composite blades for Mil helicopters in UAE for the helicopters already sold in African market. its large market. i think they may hire people in Ex Soviet states at higher wages as UAE is not cheap country.
Mikron 's chips are not keeping up with demand
Zelenograd Mikron has entered into a settlement agreement with Aliot, which had previously filed a lawsuit against the chip manufacturer for 312 million rubles. According to media reports, the delay in the execution of the Mikron contract became the reason for going to court. And this is not the first such lawsuit.
Mikron plant. Photo: Anton Novoderezhkin / TASS
Mikron and bank card company Aliot have reached a peace deal, a spokesman for the Russian chip maker told Business FM. But no details.
As the newspaper writes , in March a lawsuit for 268 million rubles against Mikron was filed by another manufacturer of smart cards, the Orenkart company. The reason was the delay in the delivery of almost two million chips, reported . On May 10, the proceedings in the case were terminated. The parties entered into a settlement agreement and agreed to postpone the delivery until November 30, 2023.
Roman Nabokov, Deputy General Director for the Development of Production of the Moscow Fizpribor Plant, speaks about the possible reasons for delays in the execution of orders by Micron:
Roman Nabokov
Deputy General Director for Production Development of the Moscow Fizpribor Plant
Mikron can't keep up with the release of these chips for an obvious reason: it is now heavily loaded with the release of other products. Mikron produces completely different chips, but it has a limited number of lines. On some lines, it can produce chips for both bank cards, passports, and chips, which are needed now, probably more than chips for bank cards. And therefore, their lines are now loaded with the production of microcircuits that are needed right now. This is my guess."
Due to the shortage of chips, Russian consumers of such products are reoriented to supplies from China. And, according to some estimates, in the first quarter of this year, Chinese microcircuits have risen in price three times, to about 72 rubles. But it's still two times less than the cost of one chip produced by the Zelenograd enterprise. From the definition in the case of Mikron and Orenkart in the file of arbitration cases, it follows that the cost of one chip ordered from a Russian manufacturer is 156 rubles.
Despite the shortage of domestic chips, Russians will not be left without bank and SIM cards. Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group, says:
Lead Analyst at Mobile Research Group“
Today, as far as I know, there are no problems with bank cards and SIM cards in the country, sufficient reserves, a sufficient amount of what comes from outside from different suppliers. Therefore, it is impossible to say that we are completely dependent on one enterprise. Yes, the cost of cards has increased for everyone, without exception, that is, the freedom that was before, when a SIM card cost tens of cents or a chip for a bank card, it does not exist. But nevertheless, both banks and mobile operators are looking for an opportunity to compensate for these costs. Today, for example, mobile operators have introduced a fee for a SIM card - this is 100 rubles when connected, this money compensates for their expenses.
Smart card manufacturers were warned about a possible shortage of chips, and they had time to prepare for this, says Oleg Izumrudov, executive director of the Consortium of Domestic Developers of Data Storage Systems. And to eliminate the causes of the deficit in the near future will not work. It is necessary to increase the supply on the market, which means to increase the production of chips. But this takes time, Izumrudov believes:
Oleg Izumrudov
Executive Director of the Association "Consortium of Domestic Developers of Data Storage Systems"
“When certain events happened last year, a stock of chips was formed, on which everything continued to exist. And it seemed to many that all the events would not last long. A month or three - and everything will return to normal. But no, it won't come back. But for some reason, awareness of these companies was slow. And when they faced the fact that these microcircuits simply ended in warehouses, only then they turned to the Mikron company and signed contracts. But here Mikron could not sharply increase the volume of output. What was forewarned. You can purchase lines, including those made in China. But they must be ordered, they must be mounted somewhere, that is, the site must be prepared. Prepare personnel, set up these lines. This takes time."
In February, Russian electronics manufacturers imposing import duties on foreign chips for banking and SIM cards in order to develop their own production. But, given the situation with the chips themselves and the vague prospects for increasing their production in Russia, the idea looks untimely.
Mikron produces chips for a lot of clients. They produce bank card chips, the chips used in the cards in the Moscow subway, chips for electronic passports, etc. Because of the Western sanctions the demand for credit card chips for Mir cards increased substantially since they need to replace VISA and Mastercard cards, and electronic passports are in high demand since people want to travel now that COVID-19 movement restrictions are gone. Mikron already outsourced production of bank card chips to NM-Tech, and they might do it again for SIM cards. Prior to the conflict most SIM cards for smartphones used to be imported.
Mikron also wants government funding to double production at its 200mm wafer line. Since this uses older 90nm KrF equipment it might be possible to expand it regardless of sanctions or not.
Last I heard Mikron was now making chips for electronic passports, after a severe shortage of passport chips a couple months ago, which meant most people had to get older style non-electronic passports. So I doubt they currently have much spare capacity for credit card or SIM chips right now.
Mikron also wants government funding to double production at its 200mm wafer line. Since this uses older 90nm KrF equipment it might be possible to expand it regardless of sanctions or not.
Last I heard Mikron was now making chips for electronic passports, after a severe shortage of passport chips a couple months ago, which meant most people had to get older style non-electronic passports. So I doubt they currently have much spare capacity for credit card or SIM chips right now.
Some companies never learn. The Russian government has warned companies to switch to Russian software for years with limited success. This Russian company bought Microsoft software and now they are paying for their shortsightedness.
05/26/2023
Microsoft disables access to internal and external Ozon services
The interlocutor of Kommersant, close to Ozon, said that on May 25 Microsoft deprived Ozon employees of access to their services - Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, etc. The source suggests that the shutdown is due to the fact that Ozon could use licenses, "purchased in a roundabout way."
“Everyone uses free analogues, I had to switch to Google Meet, Zoom, Telegram. Basically, the whole problem now revolves around the mail, which stored almost all the information. Everything is broken, and it cannot be fixed, only transferred to local servers, which is what programmers are now busy with, ”said the source of the newspaper.
In Ozon, Kommersant confirmed information about problems with access to some Microsoft services. “Access to key services has already been restored, there is no significant impact on the work of employees. For internal communication, we use other software not developed by Microsoft,” a representative of the marketplace told Kommersant. He added that services and communications for buyers, sellers and partners of Ozon were not affected by this situation: “Our key operational IT systems - warehouse management, sales management for sellers - are developed internally by the Ozon development team and work smoothly.”
Ozon also noted that the company acquired software licenses from Microsoft from an official distributor: "We understand the reasons for what happened." They also assured that they did not acquire licenses in a roundabout way.
Kommersant's interlocutor in an IT company supplying foreign software said that Microsoft has the ability to pinpoint and disable any user of its services. “Oftentimes, a corporation can ignore small companies that use its services in a roundabout way, but it can easily shut down an organization that employs more than 10,000 people,” he says.
05/26/2023
Microsoft disables access to internal and external Ozon services
The interlocutor of Kommersant, close to Ozon, said that on May 25 Microsoft deprived Ozon employees of access to their services - Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, etc. The source suggests that the shutdown is due to the fact that Ozon could use licenses, "purchased in a roundabout way."
“Everyone uses free analogues, I had to switch to Google Meet, Zoom, Telegram. Basically, the whole problem now revolves around the mail, which stored almost all the information. Everything is broken, and it cannot be fixed, only transferred to local servers, which is what programmers are now busy with, ”said the source of the newspaper.
In Ozon, Kommersant confirmed information about problems with access to some Microsoft services. “Access to key services has already been restored, there is no significant impact on the work of employees. For internal communication, we use other software not developed by Microsoft,” a representative of the marketplace told Kommersant. He added that services and communications for buyers, sellers and partners of Ozon were not affected by this situation: “Our key operational IT systems - warehouse management, sales management for sellers - are developed internally by the Ozon development team and work smoothly.”
Ozon also noted that the company acquired software licenses from Microsoft from an official distributor: "We understand the reasons for what happened." They also assured that they did not acquire licenses in a roundabout way.
Kommersant's interlocutor in an IT company supplying foreign software said that Microsoft has the ability to pinpoint and disable any user of its services. “Oftentimes, a corporation can ignore small companies that use its services in a roundabout way, but it can easily shut down an organization that employs more than 10,000 people,” he says.
No companies ever learn. If they can make one more penny by using the Western product even when there's a 99.999% suitable domestic replacement, they'll still go with the Western product and Pikachu-face when the inevitable happens.