Foreign businesses’ losses in Russia exceed US$170 billion
Pravda Ukraine
Over 1,300 international companies have either scaled down or ceased their operations in Russia since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, resulting in losses of more than US$170 billion.
Source: a study by KSE Institute, a think tank at the Kyiv School of Economics
Details: The majority of these losses are attributed to asset write-offs, which total over US$167 billion. More than US$57 billion of this amount pertains to companies whose assets were seized by Russian authorities and transferred to local entities or state institutions, despite their market value being around US$74 billion. Additionally, companies were required to pay at least US$3 billion in “exit tax”, a mandatory condition for asset sales, which increased significantly in 2023.
The companies most affected are based in the United States (US$46 billion), Germany (US$44.5 billion), the United Kingdom (US$35.1 billion), France (US$12.1 billion), Austria (US$6.7 billion) and Finland (US$5.1 billion).
Some of the largest losses include the withdrawal of British Petroleum (BP) from Russian energy giant Rosneft (US$25.5 billion), the nationalisation of Uniper (US$22 billion) and Fortum (US$4.07 billion), asset write-offs by ExxonMobil (US$4 billion) and Renault (US$2.4 billion), and Société Générale’s forced sale of its Russian business (US$3.3 billion).
The study shows that Russia has used economic pressure mechanisms systematically. At least 30 companies have fallen victim to forced asset seizures, including Carlsberg, Danone, Fortum, Wintershall Dea, Uniper and ExxonMobil.
KSE Institute reports that as of early March 2025, 481 companies have fully exited the Russian market and around 1,357 businesses have scaled back operations or are in the process of withdrawing.
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!