Russia is forcing Western companies exiting its market to make a donation to the country — and it's making it harder for them to leave

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 14:32:26 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-ukraine-war-western-firms-leaving-donate-federal-budget-2023-3>

"More than a year into the Ukraine war, the Kremlin is still thinking of ways
to penalize foreign companies exiting the country — and it is now making the
departure more expensive.

Investors who are selling their businesses and are from "unfriendly countries"
— those that have imposed sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine
—  must donate at least 10% of the sale proceeds to the Russian budget,
according to a document posted on Monday by the country's finance ministry.

The new ruling states that such companies have "an obligation to make a
voluntary cash contribution to the federal budget" that amounts to at least 10%
of what they receive from the sale, according to a Reuters translation.

This donation is on top of a previously announced 50% cut on the sale of their
assets, which has to be borne by these investors.

Russia witnessed an exodus of companies after it invaded Ukraine, but some have
remained — either voluntarily or because of challenges in leaving the Russian
market.

While over 1,000 companies quickly announced that they were voluntarily cutting
back on operations in Russia just two months after the Ukraine war started in
February 2022, just 520 companies have managed to make a clean break so far,
according to an ongoing study led by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the
Yale School of Management.

About 550 foreign companies are still actively operating in the country,
according to Yale's list.  They include firms from the US, Germany, France, and
Italy, among others."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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