Huawei looking to Russia for technology to cut reliance on US tech

Chinese telecom giant Huawei has contacted several Russian tech firms to create joint ventures and use their technologies, sources told business news outlet RBC. Huawei plans to significantly increase its sales in Russia.

Over the past few months, Huawei has contacted several Russian firms, including the developers of Elbrus processors and Alt operating systems (OS), as well as a producer of software and information security equipment.

People familiar with the matter said the Chinese corporation is interested in using the Elbrus processor in its hardware, including the servers. Talks on cooperation are currently underway.

Huawei is also in talks with Basalt SPO, the Russian developer of a software platform, which is producing the Alt processing systems. Russian operating systems for workstations and servers are being produced on the basis of the company’s software platform.

“Huawei wants to license Alt operating systems in order to use them in its own computers and servers. Negotiations have been ongoing for several months already, with both sides strongly interested in cooperation,” one of the sources said. According to another source, after the Alt licensing process is complete, Huawei computers and servers will be sold both in Russia and on Asian markets.

The general director of Basalt SPO, Aleksey Smirnov, told RBC that the company is interested in cooperation with large international corporations. He, however, declined to give any details.

All the sources noted that Huawei has intensified its presence on the Russian market after Washington barred US tech companies from dealing with Huawei.

Last month, the Chinese telecom reportedly started negotiating a replacement for Android OS with the Aurora OS which is currently being developed by Moscow-based firm Russian Mobile Platform. The possibility of installing the Aurora operating system on Huawei smartphones has even been discussed during a meeting of Russian and Chinese leaders. They have also talked about the potential localization of some of Huawei’s production facilities in Russia. Huawei has also launched a pilot 5G project with the Russian telecom MTS.

In May, the world’s biggest telecom equipment supplier and second largest smartphone manufacturer, Huawei, was put on an “entity list,” as part of the trade war between Washington and Beijing. The Trump administration severely restricted American companies from trading with the Chinese tech firm.

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