Only 8.5% of the companies in the European Union and the G7 countries have left Russia, according to a study by a Swiss university published this Thursday, which calls into question “the discourse on a great exodus” of companies from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Before the start of the conflict in February, 2,405 subsidiaries belonging to 1,404 companies from the European Union and G7 countries were active in Russia, identified professors Simon Evenett of the University of St. Gallen and Niccolò Pisani of IMD Lausanne, a prestigious institute of business management. .
By the end of November, nine months after the invasion of Ukraine, less than 9% of the panel studied had already sold at least one Russian subsidiary, with the exits being mainly American companies, rather than European or Japanese, according to their work.
“Many companies resisted the pressure”
As of that date, less than 18% of the subsidiaries belonging to companies based in the United States had fully completed the sale of their Russian subsidiaries, compared to 15% of those belonging to Japanese companies and 8.3% of those belonging to companies of the EU.
“Many companies domiciled in these states have resisted pressure from governments, the media and NGOs to leave Russia since the invasion of Ukraine,” says the statement from the University of St. Gallen presenting the study.
Several factors may explain why companies have not left Russia. Your activity may, for example, not be subject to sanctions. Others may not want to opt out because of the “social” utility of their products, the study authors list, citing essential medicines as an example.
120 Western companies had left Russia by the end of November
Some may not have found a buyer at a sufficient price either, while others, even when they have, face obstacles that the Russian government may have put in place “to make it difficult” or “to delay the sale”, preventing the repatriation of the proceeds of the sale.
But if the number of Western companies opting out “does not increase significantly” in the next year or two, “the willingness or ability of many Western companies to divest from jurisdictions their governments view as geopolitical rivals could be called into question.” they affirm. judge.
According to his research, 120 Western companies had left Russia by the end of November. Among those still active there, 19.5% are German, 12.4% American, and 7% Japanese.
Source: BFM TV
