Crimean software developers are trying to bypass sanctions

Ordinary programmers have suffered greatly from the economic sanctions against Russia. Apple and Google have fully suspended accounts belonging to Crimean software developers. Their applications are no longer available for downloading and their earnings are blocked.

Many mobile application developers in Crimea are closing their operations in order to move to Russia or Ukraine, says Alexei Sinitsa, owner of Ideas World, a mobile developer in Simferopol, one of Crimea’s largest cities. The main factor is the Ukraine Freedom Support Act, signed into force by U.S. President Barack Obama in late 2014, which forbids economic relations between American companies and those located on the Crimean peninsula.