US software giant offers free licenses to Russians

Adobe is extending existing subscriptions without charge but new licenses cannot be purchased, according to media reports  

US software developer Adobe is automatically renewing licenses for users in Russia for free due to being unable to process payments with Russian bank cards, TASS news agency reported on Tuesday.

According to people who have managed to gain free access to Adobe products, user licenses that were purchased through the official Adobe online store have an option of auto-renewal once a card is linked.

“The free renewal may be presented as a gift to those customers who, in the current situation, cannot use the card to pay abroad, in order to maintain loyalty and support their users in a difficult period,” an employee at a Russian IT company told TASS. He added that auto-renewal is not provided for corporate licenses that are sold through official resellers.

An employee of another IT firm noted that the option of renewing a subscription became available six months ago. However, it was impossible to buy a new one, he said.   

Last year, Adobe ceased all new sales of its products and services in Russia over the conflict in Ukraine. According to users’ reports, new licenses remained available for some time last year, but transactions could only be carried out using foreign bank cards.   

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Major Western payment systems Visa and MasterCard left Russia last year amid the Ukraine-related sanctions. After they withdrew, cards issued by the companies continued to work in Russia but could not be used abroad or for cross-border transactions.

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