MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed legislation requiring all smartphones, computers and smart TVs sold in the country to install Russian software in advance and mandatory.
The law, which will come into force on July 1 next year, has faced resistance from some electronics retailers who say the legislation was adopted without consulting them.
The law was introduced as a way to help national IT companies compete with foreign companies and prevent consumers from having to download software when they buy a new device.
Foreign mobile companies - including Apple, Samsung and Huawei - dominate the country's mobile phone market.
The legislation signed by Putin said the government would issue a list of Russian applications that would need to be installed on different devices.
Russia has introduced tougher Internet laws in recent years, requiring search engines to delete some search results, and messaging services to share encryption keys with security and social networking services to store user data on servers in the country.