Putin instructed to create a list of persons from "unfriendly" countries who have reduced or stopped doing business in Russia since the start of the war

Kremlin President Vladimir Putin has instructed officials to approve and update by 15 May a list of "unfriendly" countries that decided to cut their business in Russia after Russia's aggressive invasion of Ukraine. This was reported by the Kremlin press service on Saturday, 19 April.

In addition, Putin instructed the government to determine by 15 May the terms of repurchase by foreign companies of assets in Russia, which were abandoned by them after the start of the war.

It should be noted that despite propaganda statements about the imminent return of Western brands, not a single company has confirmed its intentions to resume operations in Russia in six months.

Earlier, Putin said that foreign companies that left Russia "will not be able to buy back their business for modest sums of money." He also instructed the government to monitor the situation and such deals.

As of early 2025, 467 foreign companies have completely exited the Russian market since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. These companies generated $105 billion in revenue in 2021, representing 32.8 per cent of the total revenue of foreign companies in Russia, and paid about $6 billion in taxes, representing 23.3 per cent of all foreign tax revenues before the invasion.

In addition, more than 1,300 companies have announced their intention to leave Russia, but the exit process is not yet complete. Some of them have partially sold their businesses, started bankruptcy procedures or faced nationalisation of assets - the latter happened, for example, with the Anheuser-Busch brewing company.

Thus, while only 11.5 per cent of foreign companies have completely left Russia, some 33.5 per cent have suspended or announced plans to cease operations, while 55 per cent continue to operate in the country.