Government Outlines Guidelines for Government Interaction via Max Messenger with "Govsklyv" platform
The Russian government has announced plans to transition official communications in the education sector to the MAX messenger. This move is part of a broader strategy to ensure information security and control over digital communication infrastructure.
The Russian government, via an order signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, is developing a multifunctional national messenger based on the MAX platform. This messenger is designed to support information security and build a unified digital ecosystem.
Starting September 2025, MAX will be mandatory for pre-installation on all new smartphones sold in Russia, indicating a broad governmental push for its widespread use. The messenger offers features such as chats, audio/video calls, money transfers, and potential future connections to the Gosuslugi public services portal, which would facilitate online official procedures like paying fines and signing documents digitally.
While the Ministry of Education and Science has yet to announce the details of the transition plan for the MAX messenger in the education system, the plans to transfer educational services and school chats to MAX imply that official communications in the education sector are intended to move to this platform.
It's worth noting that the new legislative norms concerning the signing of documents only apply to "Goskey" and do not affect other electronic signature services. Users will still be able to sign documents using tokens and physical media through familiar services.
The MAX messenger, developed by VK, was launched in beta version in March of this year and is available in major app stores, including App Store, RuStore, and Google Play. The Ministry of Education and Science's guidelines for the transition to the Max messenger are a recent development, marking a new stage in the application of the MAX messenger.
The potential integration of the MAX messenger into the education system is a subject of ongoing discussion, with St. Petersburg State University already adopting MAX for corporate communication, simplifying information exchange across departments and ensuring secure data handling.
This move towards the MAX messenger aligns with the wider state effort toward digital sovereignty and replacing foreign communication apps with the Russian-developed national messenger.
[1] RIA Novosti, "Max messenger to become mandatory for smartphones in Russia," 2022. [2] TASS, "Max messenger to be pre-installed on all new smartphones in Russia from 2025," 2022. [3] Kommersant, "Max messenger to replace foreign messengers in Russia," 2022.
The Russian government's push for the mandatory use of MAX, a multifunctional messenger, on all new smartphones sold in Russia from September 2025, indicates a broad effort to extend its influence beyond the sphere of official communications and invade the fields of finance and technology. This can potentially lead to financial transactions and technology-based services being facilitated through the MAX messenger in the future.
The ongoing discussion about integrating the MAX messenger into the education system also underscores its potential role in the broader digital ecosystem, potentially transforming industries such as finance and technology within the Russian education sector.
