In December 2023, twenty international companies successfully concluded the process of withdrawing from the Russian market. This brings the number of businesses that fully left the Russian market to only 348, according to the KSE Institute.
The list of such corporate leavers includes the Bridgestone Corporation, J&T Banka, Kuka, Leroy Merlin, OMV and Wintershall Dea AG (Vladimir Putin signed decrees according to which the companies’ shares in joint ventures with Gazprom will be forcibly sold to Russian owners), Playrix, Schaeffler, SPAR, Windar Renovables.
KSE has also downgraded the status of Decathlon as the company did not leave the Russian market, but continues operations through intermediaries, having earned $12 million.
Additionally, ten full liquidations of foreign companies in December 2023 were identified: Clariant AG, Duravit, Eti Maden, Kfw (IPEX-Bank, DEG, FuB), Rational, RELX, Spotify, Thermo Fisher, Wella, Wilhelmsen Ship Management.
As of January 11, 348 global firms have completely pulled out of Russia by selling or liquidating business, and 1,197 are in the process of leaving.
Instead, the majority or 58% of international companies with ties to Russia at the start of 2022 continue to do business within the aggressor state.
Almost two years after the full-scale invasion and almost ten years since the beginning of Russia’s aggression, this is a drop in the ocean!
B4Ukraine calls on G7, EU, and Swiss governments to urge their businesses to cut ties with Russia and issue business advisories to warn of the heightened risks of continuing business operations in the aggressor state.