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Foreign companies remaining in Russia want to be treated equitably, given that they have continued to operate in the country throughout four years of sanctions standoff, Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, said in an interview with RBC. On May 26, it was announced that Shokhin would take up the post of business ombudsman responsible for protection of entrepreneurs’ rights in Russia.

"Foreign companies that have stayed and operated in Russia for four years want equal treatment, and they do not want to find themselves on the list of assets transferred to temporary state management or to other companies. They want to know the rules of the game – they would like clear criteria for what constitutes a good-faith presence – and we welcome that," Shokhin said.

He added that Russia, in turn, has the right to expect symmetrical treatment on "the other side". "Though we understand that not many industrial or other assets remain on our side in unfriendly countries," he acknowledged.

The temporary management regime for foreign company assets in Russia, introduced in 2023, has a number of shortcomings that damage the business climate and create what foreign business representatives described as a "highly nervous environment" at a meeting of the International Council for Cooperation and Investment in Moscow in late April 2026.

In particular, senior executives of foreign companies still operating in Russia do not know whether their businesses are potential candidates for temporary management, said Vladimir Efremov, a board member of AmCham Russia. Matthias Schepp, head of the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce Abroad, said that if a company had firmly decided to continue operating in Russia and then suddenly found itself placed under temporary management, it would send a troubling signal for the investment climate.

On the question of foreign businesses returning to Russia, Shokhin stressed that if a company from an unfriendly country chose to come back, it should not face discrimination solely on the basis of its country of origin. "It would not be desirable for a returning company that has not compromised itself over these four years to encounter problems solely on the basis of its country of origin. Competition matters to us — including between foreign companies from different countries." he said.