Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Lotus Development Corp has, as reported briefly (CI No 1,889), established Lotus Development Russia as a wholly-owned subsidiary based in Moscow. The company is also now shipping the Russian version of Lotus 1-2-3 for MS-DOS, Version 2.3, a fully translated version of what Lotus likes to think is the world’s most popular personal computer spreadsheet. Lotus Development Russia will serve all the republics making up the Commonwealth of Independent States, and also the Baltic states. Lotus, as reported, began marketing its products in Russia in December 1990. The new subsidiary is accompanied by a local production centre for disk duplication, documentation printing, and assembly of product packages. This work was previously done at the company’s Dublin Development Centre in Eire. Lotus reckons it has built a strong infrastructure of distributors and dealers throughout the region, but says that the new subsidiary plans to expand the dealer network further. It will also expand its network of training centres, where courses on all of its available products will be offered. The Russian version of 1-2-3 2.3 sells for 8,500 roubles and provides the same capabilities as the US version, including interactive WYSIWYG display and presentation-quality output capabilities, spreadsheet auditing tools and a file-viewing feature. Later this year, Cyrillic versions of the other major Lotus products will be released, the company promises.
