No official approaches yet by foreign companies looking to return to Russia
So far not a single Western company has officially approached the Ministry of Industry and Trade about returning to the Russian market. This was stated on 2 June by Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov.
The Russian market is growing, he said, and Western companies "are trying to keep up with the trends." They may be talking with Russian market participants about returning, but so far the authorities have received no official requests from foreign businesses, the Minister said.
"If someone wants to come back, they're quite welcome, but only with Russian partners, only with Russian control, only onshoring their technologies and ramping up to the full production cycle – preferably according to a clear timeline – on our territory," he continued, outlining the conditions for foreign businesses to return.
Alikhanov believes that people abroad can see that Russia is shifting toward a policy of reasonable trade and industry protectionism. Companies wishing to simply supply their goods to Russia will come up against the requirements of what is a national policy, he said. "To say, 'let's just let everyone back into our retail sector' would be a hasty decision in my view," the Minister added.
Alikhanov also expressed certainty that the Russian market is now indifferent as to whether Western firms come back or not. "They themselves did everything they could to rescue us from becoming dependent. It wasn't we who broke our unspoken agreement – it was them," he said.
In March, President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to draw up rules for the return of Western companies. The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) voiced its proposals (in particular, that Russian residents should have a controlling or blocking interest, and that foreign companies should transfer their ownership of the technologies), as did lawmakers from the LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia) and business leaders (who advocated for separate conditions for the return of "former investors" and "direct importers"). Furthermore, awaiting their second reading in the State Duma are amendments calling for foreign companies to be prohibited from buying back their former Russian assets under option clauses.