Union: Western companies return to Russia through third countries

MOSCOW, Jun 29 (PRIME) -- Some Western firms that promise to withdraw from Russia return to the country immediately through friendly states, Sergei Krasilnikov, vice president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, told PRIME on Wednesday.

“It is difficult to confirm or deny a Western media report that 1,000 Western companies left Russia. I can only say that the central bank’s data shows that about 30,000 foreign companies had been working in Russia until recently. Nobody has official statistics on withdrawal of companies from Russia, and nobody can have that, because the structure of participation differs for each company,” he said.

There are large companies that are present in Russia under their actual names, and there are many representatives of small and medium-sized businesses. “Let’s assume that a large brand has left, but its contractors and their Russian subsidiaries stay here, and they may act under completely different names. Other companies leave Russia and return immediately through the friendly countries,” he said.

Only withdrawal of Western companies that had production facilities in Russia, like IKEA or Renault, could have a serious impact, as their ventures employ dozens of thousands of Russians, he said.

At the same time, there are companies like Adidas that have announced their decision to leave, but they have no production in the country. They only have about 500 stores that they do not own that sold their products.

“So I can definitely assume that Adidas announced an official suspension of supplies, and now they are speaking with their partners in hushed tones about where and how the partners could obtain their sportswear and quietly import it into the country,” he said.

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