Russian government officials have begun contacting major Western multinationals to discuss their return to the Russian market, the Financial Times reported on 28 February.
One US multinational received a call from a Russian government official inquiring if the company “would be interested in bringing back some of its brands,” according to the FT.
The outreach comes as Moscow and Washington rapidly re-engage politically, discussing a possible end to the war in Ukraine and a potential meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
As Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many international companies demonstratively exited the Russian market as they faced significant public pressure and potential consumer backlash if they continued Russian operations.
“I wouldn’t say there is an avalanche, but there are a lot of companies dipping their toe in the water to see what the temperature is,” a Western executive in Moscow told the FT.
Former President Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was in “serious discussions” with Putin about “major Economic Development transactions which will take place between the United States and Russia.”
Putin said Russia is ready to cooperate with US companies on mineral extraction in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, claiming American firms could make “good money” from aluminum extraction in Russia.
Kirill Dmitriev, Russia’s newly appointed special envoy for foreign economic cooperation, claims US companies lost $324 billion by pulling out of Russia. He suggested American companies could start returning within months.
The Kyiv School of Economics estimates showed foreign companies suffered at least $167 billion in direct losses over three years of the war, with US groups accounting for about a third of these losses.
According to the KSE, 475 foreign companies have quit the Russian market since the invasion of Ukraine, while another 1,360 have scaled back operations.
Denis Manturov, Russia’s first deputy prime minister, suggested retail chains planning to return would need to also open in Russian-occupied Ukraine. “It will no longer be possible to get [the asset] and return the way they got it and left,” Manturov said in a TV interview.
According to market participants, US companies may have an easier path back than European firms as Washington pursues rapprochement with Moscow.
“Putin thinks that Trump’s soft spot is trade and money,” a former major US investor in Russia told the FT. “If he could make an announcement about American energy companies coming back, Trump would view that as a victory.”
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