More than half (56%) of international firms with ties to Russia before its invasion on Ukraine have continued to do business in the country, according to the B4Ukraine coalition. An analysis of more than 3,000 multinationals found that just one in ten had completed the liquidation or sale of their Russian businesses. The remaining companies paid at least US$18 billion in taxes to Russia in 2021 — enough to fund Russia’s war against Ukraine for two months. B4Ukraine, a coalition of 80 civil society organisations, called for G7, EU, and Swiss governments to do more to urge companies to cut ties with Russia, ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion. It also called for investors to identify and engage with “remainers” in their portfolios to encourage them to leave or suspend operations and relationships in Russia. The report, based on data from the Kyiv School of Economics, recognised that more than 1,000 firms had begun the process of cutting ties with Russia, citing the exits of French bank Societe Generale and US-based FMC as evidence that “a swift and orderly exit from Russia is possible”. “Companies are playing a potentially lethal game of corporate Russian roulette by wilfully accepting exposure to an array of regulatory, legal, reputational, and financial risks by continuing to do business and utilise supply chains under military control in Russia,” said Rich Stazinski, member of the B4Ukraine Coalition.
The majority of international firms which had ties to Russia at start of 2022 continue to do business in the country. THE MAJORITY.
We analysed 3,078 multinational companies, and found that 1,717 continue to do business with Russia. Pretty bad, huh? https://t.co/lro8XvAk6b
— B4Ukraine (@B4Ukraine) February 23, 2023
