In August 2024, only eight international companies completed the process of withdrawing from the Russian market by selling or liquidating their operations, according to an analysis by the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE).
This brings the number of businesses that have fully left Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine to 423, while more than 2,000 are still operating as usual in Russia, thus contributing to its wartime economy.
The list of the most recent companies leaving Russia includes the US credit card giant American Express, the Swedish watch brand Daniel Wellington, the Austrian toll company Kapsch, the US chemical company Momentive, the Dutch information services company Wolters Kluwer, the Canadian global network of schools Brookes Education Group, the Luxembourgish printing ink maker Flint, and the German fashion brand Hugo Boss.
KSE also downgraded the statuses of two companies: SPAR, which opened new stores in Moscow in August 2024 and continues operating in Russia, and SOCAR, with its key entity, LLC “SOCAR RUS,” conducting regular business. At the end of August 2024, Russia’s Gazprom and Azerbaijan’s SOCAR agreed to expand gas cooperation and strategic partnership. SOCAR’s public procurement clients include the Russian Guard and military units.
KSE estimates that multinationals contribute around $20 billion annually in corporate taxes to a government led by war criminals. Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are the second-largest contributors to Russia’s economy after the alcohol and tobacco sectors, significantly fueling the country’s war efforts. FMCG firms often boast about their ‘social purpose’ and commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards, despite their financial ties to a regime engaged in war crimes.
The FMCG sector includes major brands such as Mondelez International (with an estimated $1.4 billion in revenue in Russia in 2023), PepsiCo ($4.2 billion), Mars, Incorporated ($2.9 billion), Procter & Gamble ($1.8 billion), Nestlé S.A. ($2.8 billion). All six firms have been labeled “international sponsors of war” by the Ukrainian government for their significant contribution to Russia’s war economy. These firms argue that they provide ‘essential’ goods to ‘ordinary’ Russians and show concern for the welfare of their Russia-based employees while producing chocolates and biscuits. Ironically, in the meantime, they are required to help the state recruit eligible employees to fight against Ukraine.
A recently issued US Government Business Advisory on Russia clarifies the risks for US companies still operating in the country, including the risk of being complicit in Russia’s growing number of war crimes, which currently stands at 141,518.
The B4Ukraine Coalition calls on all international companies still doing business in Russia to drop their keys and leave the market of the aggressor state. G7 and allied governments should swiftly follow the US’s lead and issue similar guidance to their own companies.