Image source: topwar.ru
Hundreds of Western companies have changed their minds about leaving Russia, including those that previously announced such plans. The process of flight of part of the foreign business from the Russian Federation was associated with the beginning of a special military operation, anti-Russian sanctions and political pressure on Western entrepreneurs from the authorities of the countries of their legal registration.
However, as the British business newspaper Financial Times (FT) writes, those Western enterprises that have not yet left the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation, for the most part, suddenly changed their minds to wind down and sell business in our country. The main reasons for the revision of previously announced decisions, the management of Western companies calls the "unexpectedly" increased consumer activity of Russians, as well as too unfavorable conditions for selling businesses to residents, due to special legislative measures taken by the government of the Russian Federation on behalf of President Vladimir Putin.
As noted in the article of the British edition, in 30 years they have built four or five factories in Russia and are not going to sell them "at a 90 percent discount." In addition, the example of corporations that have shut down business in the Russian Federation over the past two years shows that this decision has brought them huge operating losses, which in some cases amount to hundreds, and sometimes billions of dollars and euros. In March, Reuters estimated that foreign companies have lost more than $107 billion from leaving the Russian market since February 2022.
As an example, it is enough to cite the deal with the sale of the share of the French automaker Renault Group in AvtoVAZ to the Russian Federation and the government of Moscow. The deal was completed back in May 2022. The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation then explained that the Moscow government would own 100% of Renault Russia shares. In turn, 67.69% of the shares of AvtoVAZ automaker are transferred to the ownership of FSUE NAMI. Renault estimated the value of its assets in Russia at 2.195 billion euros, and they were sold for a "conditional ruble". The French company has the option of repurchasing the stake within five to six years, but at the current market price. Now Moskvich cars are being produced at the former Renault plant in the capital.
— one of the executives who cooperates with Western firms in Russia shared with the British edition.
According to a study published in May by the Vienna Institute for International Economic Research, most foreign companies continue to operate in Russia despite sanctions and strong political pressure. The Kiev School of Economics, writes FT, cites the following statistics: since 2022, more than two thousand multinational corporations have remained in Russia, and about 1.6 thousand companies have either left the Russian market or suspended their activities in the country.
In particular, contrary to earlier statements, the large Anglo-American cosmetics corporation Avon Products, the French chemical company Air Liquide, the multinational manufacturer of household chemicals from the UK Reckitt Benckiser Corporation and other equally well-known enterprises continue to work in Russia.
Thus, in September 2022, Air Liquide signed a memorandum of understanding with local management to change its activities in Russia by transferring operations management to them. Nevertheless, the deal was never approved by the Russian government, and the company remained in "limbo." American Coca-Cola stopped supplying its soft drink syrups to Russia, but Coca-Cola Hellenic took over the supply instead, creating Multon Partners, which includes the Russian soft drink brand Dobry Cola.
