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Some foreign companies that are not directly affected by Western sanctions may begin returning to Russia, as they were initially forced to leave due to public pressure in their own countries, Boris Titov, the president's special representative for relations with international organisations, said on Radio RBC. He believed that expiring options to repurchase previously sold assets may also encourage them to return.

"Of course, everything will depend on the particular legal situation, but it is certainly true that companies are already thinking about returning. . . The ones who are not directly subject to sanctions will start to return, because many were once forced to leave due to public opinion in their countries; they were simply forced to do so. If they hadn't left, they would have lost markets there, at home, or in third countries," Titov said.

He added that companies that previously operated in Russia not only suffered financial losses but also "miss Moscow very much, because it has the kind of cultural environment that many people like."

In late 2025, Alexander Shokhin, president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), said that "the return [of Western companies] is still a long way off for political reasons." "But this delay should be used to implement all investment plans and increase competitiveness," Shokhin said.

The key factor in competitiveness is the ability to operate in foreign markets, the RSPP chief said. "If you can't export your products, then you're not competitive. If you need to fence off the domestic market to be able to compete with Chinese companies or other foreign companies, then, again, your products are uncompetitive," he said.

In spring 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered criteria to be prepared for foreign businesses to return. One thing he said was that companies who sold their businesses in Russia at a discount should not be able to buy them back at the same low price upon their return. The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Delovaya Rossiya, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry have put forward proposals on the conditions under which the return should take place. However, discussions on the potential return of foreign companies have stalled at present because negotiations to resolve the conflict in Ukraine have not yet yielded concrete results.