One of Ukraine’s earliest IT companies
From the AI department at KPI and the Glushkov Institute of Cybernetics to a developer of national-scale government information systems
Anton Marrero
Founder of Softline and Intecracy Group
I was fascinated by technology from an early age. Trained as a systems engineer, I was already teaching Artificial Intelligence at KPI in 1991. But those were difficult times, and I had to leave the department. Only one out of ten people from my class was able to work in the profession. To stay in IT, Alisher Ramazanov and I founded Softline in 1995. Yuriy Syvytsky joined a little later.
Our first contract was the automation of an agricultural commodities exchange. We literally lived in a small room behind the trading floor. It was a risky project, and very few wanted to take it on. We did — and it worked. Even then, while working with Ukrposhta, we realized something essential: code is not the main thing. The real key is understanding how an organization operates.
In 2009, the R&D institute Ecotech joined us. It had been founded by specialists from the V.M. Glushkov Institute of Cybernetics — an engineering school with deep scientific roots. Those capabilities are what enable us today to deliver complex projects for government and corporate clients. Softline’s history is part of the broader history of Ukrainian IT.
The company’s journey
Softline started in a small room behind the trading floor of an agricultural commodities exchange. The first contract was a complex automated system that very few were willing to take on.
A second client emerged from among the exchange participants — Khlib Ukrainy. Then came Ukrposhta, where we learned a lasting lesson: code is not the main thing. The real task is designing a workable model of how an organization functions.
In 2000, the company attracted international investment and expanded beyond Ukraine. In 2002, it delivered its first national-scale systems. In 2009, restructuring and joining Intecracy Group gave Softline access to a shared technology platform and a broader pool of engineering expertise.
In 2014, the company took part in building state registries at a national scale. UnityBase has grown into an enterprise platform with hundreds of deployments and hundreds of thousands of users. Today Softline is one of the structurally important Ukrainian IT integrators, ensuring the continuity of critical information systems.
Softline founded
Anton Marrero, Alisher Ramazanov, Yuriy Syvytsky. Kyiv
First tender
Automation of an agricultural commodities exchange
Khlib Ukrainy, Ukrposhta
Early large-scale integrated IT solutions in Ukraine
Megapolis platform
Proprietary business platform for software development
International projects
SigmaBleyzer investment. Expansion into the U.S. and EU markets
First national-scale systems
Information systems for government institutions
Growth to 1,000 employees
Training center and expanded capabilities
Intecracy Group
Formation of the group. Ecotech R&D Institute (Glushkov Institute of Cybernetics)
State registries
Participation in building national registries and information systems
UnityBase Defense
Hardened platform edition. SSSCIP conclusion, assurance level G3
Electronic document workflows
Document workflow rollouts in banking, telecom, and government institutions
Systems serving millions of users
National-scale registries and information systems
UnityBase development
500K concurrent users. 130+ TB of data
Continuity of critical systems
Sustaining operations of state registries and enterprise systems under challenging conditions
18 years — and we never gave up our brand
Softline has operated under this name since 1995 and owns the registered trademark. In 2002, a Moscow-based company seized the softline.ua domain through cybersquatting. Instead of changing our name or backing down, we defended the brand all the way through.
Using an already established name, the Russian entity sold computer hardware and Russian software, undercut the market, pushed out Ukrainian developers, and made government institutions dependent on Russian software.
We launched legal action immediately. However, because intellectual property law was still underdeveloped, the proceedings dragged on for years. The clone repeatedly changed legal entities to complicate the process.
Securing information systems at national scale
National-scale systems
The first national-scale government information systems serving millions of users. Architecture designed for sustained load
State registries
Contribution to building national registries — with focus on data integrity, protection, and high availability
UnityBase Defense
Hardened edition of the UnityBase platform for systems with elevated security requirements. SSSCIP conclusion, assurance level G3
Secure document workflows
Electronic archives and document workflows for organizations where data loss or leakage is unacceptable
Sustained high-load operations
500,000 concurrent users. 130+ TB of data. Stable operation over low-bandwidth links and legacy hardware
Continuity of critical systems
Sustaining operations of state registries and enterprise systems under challenging conditions — redundancy, disaster recovery, availability monitoring
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