Western companies in Russia has been warned by the Kremlin that there would be no ‘free exit’ which will see them selling their Russian assets even as they were reminded that they would have to abide with strict rules dictated by Moscow.
The Financial Times earlier on Tuesday, citing persons engaged in recent acquisitions, said that the Russian government has imposed restrictions on international corporations looking to sell their Russian subsidiaries, setting de facto limitations and timelines on transactions.
Africa Today News, New York reports that hundreds of Western companies have left Russia in the 20 months since Moscow launched its assault on Ukraine, with many taking steep discounts or writing-off assets entirely.
‘Russia remains a country that is open for foreign investment… Russia is ready to create comfortable conditions for foreign companies working here’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.
‘But taking into account the quasi-war that the collective West is waging with Russia, including an economic war, a special regime applies to those Western companies that are leaving under pressure from their governments,’ Peskov said.
Moscow has imposed a raft of capital controls in response to Western sanctions that it says are needed to boost economic sovereignty.
A special Russian government commission must approve all large-scale deals involving companies from countries it labels “unfriendly” — those that have hit Moscow with sanctions.
President Vladimir Putin must personally approve deals in the sensitive energy and finance sectors and departing companies must sell at a mandatory 50 percent discount and pay an exit tax worth 15 percent of the company’s market value.
‘Of course, there can’t be any free exit at the moment,’ Peskov said Tuesday.
One investment banker told the FT Moscow had limited sales of foreign currency by companies leaving Russia to $20 million a day, and placed a seven-day deadline on deals — effectively capping proceeds at $140 million. Another said there was an informal limit of $400 million that could be transferred abroad.
Moscow has appeared to revel in the exit of Western companies since last February, with Russian firms and Kremlin-connected businessmen scooping up lucrative assets in cut-price deals.