Russian barriers to re-entry stymie prospects of Western companies' return

Elena Fabrichnaya, Alexander Marrow and Gleb Stolyarov

Thu, Apr 17, 2025, 5:52 AM 4 min read

By Elena Fabrichnaya, Alexander Marrow and Gleb Stolyarov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Three months aft U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House promising a swift extremity to the struggle successful Ukraine and sparking an aboriginal flurry of excitement that Western companies could travel flooding backmost to Russia, realism has acceptable in.

Moscow is putting up barriers to re-entry for the thousands of companies that halted operations oregon sold assets successful the state aft Russia launched its subject offensive, according to authorities officials and 4 Russian lawyers.

Western companies looking to regain marketplace stock look pugnacious negotiations, mountains of paperwork and reputational risks, according to conversations with 12 radical successful Russia's retail, car and fiscal markets.

Companies including McDonald's, Germany's Henkel and Hyundai Motor secured buyback agreements erstwhile exiting, but returning volition not beryllium elemental arsenic the authorities moves to support a grip connected strategical sectors and beforehand home accumulation and businesses.

"The Russian authorities volition not cancel options that outgoing foreigners concluded with Russian companies, but they volition enactment guardant further demands for their implementation," Alexei Yakovlev, caput of the concern ministry's fiscal argumentation department, said connected the sidelines of a Moscow fiscal forum successful aboriginal April.

Unilaterally abolishing buyback agreements could spawn waves of litigation, lawyer Ekaterina Drozdova of FTL Advisers told Reuters, suggesting that Russia whitethorn present an 'entrance fee' to rise budgetary funds.

A fistful of firms are making discreet enquiries, said 4 radical moving with overseas companies successful Russia, but determination are nary superior plans portion wide Western sanctions stay successful place.

Local companies that person filled niches vacated by departed competitors are besides lobbying the authorities to enactment up obstacles to immoderate return, said different lawyer who asked not to beryllium named.

President Vladimir Putin warned successful March that companies that "slammed the doorway defiantly" erstwhile leaving would not beryllium allowed to bargain backmost businesses for tiny amounts of wealth oregon displace section operators.

The concern ministry has said overseas businesses would beryllium required to put successful section production, probe and development, and stock technology.

People are decidedly talking, said a backstage equity root who works connected Russia, but determination are nary word sheets, fto unsocial deals. Companies that near successful 2022 are not coming backmost immoderate clip soon, the idiosyncratic added.

The concern ministry and cardinal slope accidental nary overseas companies person applied to instrumentality truthful far.