The Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation has admitted that there have been problems in certifying Western telecommunications equipment in Russia. Since a law on certification came into force last year, all the electronics suppliers have been required to get licences on their equipment before they can sell it. Western suppliers say now that the biggest problem is the so-called ‘first in, first served’ principle because the Ministry is unable to process so many applications – this is now hampering the import of electronics into Russia. Yury Emelyanov, head of the certification department of the Ministry, said the situation was only really serious in the certification of electronics for cellular communications because most networks are being built independently.
