“Important stories”: since the beginning of the war, only 20% of Western companies have completely left Russia

After the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine, many Western companies announced the suspension of their business in Russia, but only 20% of companies completely left the country, according to Important Stories.

As journalists found out, from February 2022 to April 2023 in the Russian register of legal entities, the number of companies owned by persons from "unfriendly" countries (primarily the US, EU, UK) decreased by about 2.5 thousand. As Important Stories explains, these companies changed ownership, were liquidated or are in the process of liquidation.

Among the companies that have decided to leave the Russian market, despite large investments, the publication singles out auto concerns - Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Nissan, Mazda. Journalists also cite the Shell gas station chain, Tobacco Group tobacco holding, McDonald's fast food chain and many others on their list.

The small number of companies that have left, Important Stories notes, is also due to the difficulties they face when trying to leave the Russian market, including preparing a business for sale, as well as finding a buyer.

In addition, the Russian government prevents Western companies from leaving. For example, an interlocutor of the Financial Times said that about 2,000 companies are waiting in line for the Foreign Investment Control Commission, without whose permission it is impossible to leave the Russian market. At the same time, the commission itself meets only three times a month and considers no more than seven applications per meeting.

Among the companies that have left, there are those who “leave the door open”, that is, reserve the right to buy back, keep the sold shares as collateral, or even imitate leaving, changing jurisdiction to “friendly” and transferring business to trusted people.

The right to buy, write "Important stories", left the French Renault and Danone, as well as the American McDonald's and Ford.

There are also companies that only “imitated” their departure by changing the owner. These are predominantly small companies, the new owners of which are legal entities from Turkey, Kazakhstan, China and the United Arab Emirates. For example, since the beginning of the war, 14 legal entities from the UAE have acquired 21 Russian companies.