Support The Moscow Times!

10K Foreign-Affiliated Companies Have Exited Russia Since Ukraine Invasion – Report

A view of the Moscow Kremlin and the Moscow City business center. Yaroslav Chingaev / Moskva News Agency

Nearly 10,000 companies with foreign involvement have exited Russia in the two years since it invaded Ukraine, the Vedomosti business daily reported Thursday, citing corporate data.

The number of legal entities with foreign affiliation declined by 6,200 in 2022 and 3,400 in January-October 2023, totaling 9,600, according to the publication.

Overall, Vedomosti said 23,500 companies with foreign co-owners have been liquidated since March 2022.

The discrepancy between the 9,600 and 23,500 figures is explained by the number of new companies with foreign affiliations registering in Russia.

Vedomosti noted a significant increase in companies with co-founders from former Soviet republics — which accounted for 59% of all new companies registered in 2023 in Russia, as well as companies with co-founders from China, which accounted for 25% over the same period.

Companies with co-founders from Turkey and India accounted for 3% and 2% of firms last year respectively.

Likewise, 3% of companies registered in Russia last year were from countries that the Kremlin deems “unfriendly” (such as the United States and NATO members), according to Vedomosti, compared to 14% in 2021.

Citing a report by Spark-Interfax, Russia’s database on business activities, Vedomosti said a total of 116,400 legal entities with foreign involvement were registered in Russia as of late 2023. That’s down 37% from the peak of 185,000 foreign-affiliated entities recorded in 2017.

“On the whole, the company registration statistics involving non-residents allow us to speak of signs that foreign business interest in the Russian market is recovering,” Vedomosti quoted the Spark-Interfax report as saying.

Experts interviewed by the publication attributed the decrease in foreign-affiliated companies in Russia to Western sanctions and the Kremlin’s efforts to lure Russian entrepreneurs to transfer assets based in “unfriendly” countries back home.

“De-offshorization and reorientation of the country’s economy eastward partly help mitigate the negative consequences of this trend,” Vedomosti wrote, citing Mikhail Nikolayev, who heads the Russian ratings agency ACRA’s sovereign and regional ratings group.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more