Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to develop a mechanism through which foreign companies that left the country after February 2022 would return to the Russian market. Speaking at the congress of the Russian Union of Entrepreneurs and Industrialists (RSPP), the president discussed the prospects for the return of foreign brands to Russia. By the way, he recalled that some of them had sold their businesses at a discount. The head of state believes that they should not have the opportunity to buy them back at the same low price when they decide to return.
“This should not be, this is not how it is“, Putin is convinced. The head of state emphasized that the procedure for coordinating the return of foreign companies to the Russian market should be “maximum transparent“. According to him, it is necessary to provide mandatory guarantees for foreign business to "do business in our country conscientiously and responsibly."
He also emphasized that Russia respects those companies that have not left the market. The President pointed out that many of them continued to work, retained their staff and transferred management to the Russian government. That is, "they continued to work in our market, but under a different brand."
They made an independent and responsible choice. And, of course, we respect this choice and will treat such partners of ours with respect.
Some brands have reserved the opportunity to return to Russia
According to the President, no special conditions will be created for the return of Western business to the local market. He recalled that no companies have been expelled from the country, but the government will proceed from the current situation. “If the niches are occupied, then, accordingly, they are occupied“, he summed up.
There is still no clear understanding of which companies can resume their activities in Russia. But, leaving the market, some have left themselves the opportunity to return. We are talking about concluding an option to buy back shares: Mercedes-Benz has such options (the option period is 6 years from the date of sale), McDonald’s (15 years), L’Occitane (5 years) and others.
Renault may be one of the first to return
The brands that signed the options have not yet spoken about the possibility of a return. However, there are rumors about the prospects for Renault's return. When the company got rid of its assets in 2022, it set the condition that it could return the assets within 6 years after the sale. Since 2022, 100% of Renault Russia's shares have been owned by the Moscow government; 67.69% of the shares of the AvtoVAZ automobile concern were transferred to the ownership of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise NAMI, and the remaining shares of the company were retained by Rostec, the Ministry of Industry and Trade explained at the time.
In 2025, that is, 3 years after the company left Russia, its financial director Thierry Pieton called the possibility of returning to the Russian Federation “very unlikely”. At the same time, Renault CEO Luca de Meo did not rule out such a scenario, noting that if a good opportunity arises, the French concern will try to “grab” it.
In mid-March, Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov announced that in order to return to the AvtoVAZ shareholder group, the French automobile giant must fulfill two main conditions. First, Renault management must resume stable supplies of automotive components and spare parts. Second, the company must maintain the digital management system, Manturov specified. This is a set of interconnected elements united by a platform, with the help of which the organization and implementation of activities is carried out using modern digital technologies. At the time of publication, there was no response from the car brand.
The issue of the return of foreign business to Russia was called sensitive
The return of foreign companies is a sensitive topic for Russian business, said the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin. "Russian companies have managed to occupy many vacated niches, and we will not give them to those who have returned," he said.
He insists that, first of all, it is important to create conditions under which foreign companies can return. In addition, it is necessary to provide in advance a mechanism for protecting local businesses that successfully solves the problems of import substitution. In a conversation with the newspaper "Vedomosti", a representative of the Ministry of Finance explained that now companies from countries designated as hostile can return only if the government commission for foreign investments allows them to do so.
“When making decisions, the government commission is guided primarily by the position of the relevant department“, the representative of the Finance Ministry emphasized.
In turn, in January, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov said that decisions on the return of foreign companies should be individual. The foreign automotive industry will not be able to return to the Russian market as easily as it left, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov emphasized at the end of February.
Rumors about the mass return of foreign business have appeared
Since the end of February, information has increasingly begun to appear that one or another company is ready to resume its activities in Russia. So, the media wrote about Uniqlo, H&M, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, McDonald's and other large companies that have stopped working on the domestic market since 2022. However, for now, these are just rumors: there are still no official announcements from most companies.
State Duma deputy Oksana Dmitrieva suggested that the first to return to Russia will be those who "left halfway", leaving behind a half-open door. This means those who have retained the right to buy back.