13 January 2025

• ...In 2023, 1600 multinational corporations played a pivotal role in strengthening Russia’s economy, contributing to its illegal war of aggression in Ukraine. These companies, including some that have since exited, made over $196.9 billion in revenues through their Russian subsidiaries, with $16.8 billion recorded as profit.
• For 2023, foreign multinationals paid an estimated $21.6 billion in total tax1, bringing the total estimated taxes paid to $41.6 billion since the full-scale invasion in 2022. $41.6 billion is equivalent to just under one-third of Russia’s estimated military budget for 2025, highlighting the major financial contribution these foreign companies still have on the Russian economy.
• Companies based in nations committed to supporting Ukraine’s war effort remain among the largest contributors to Russia’s tax base...
• On a country basis, American firms generated the largest total revenues in Russia and emerged as the Kremlin’s most substantial contributors through profit taxes, paying $1.2 billion in 2023. Germany follows, with its companies paying $692.5 million in profit taxes to Russia in the same year..
• Companies which remain in Russia will pay even more profit tax in 2025 and beyond. Changes to the Russian Tax Code will see the corporate profit tax rate rise from 20% to 25%, beginning in 2025, marking a key step in Moscow’s strategy to instrumentalise Western business presence to secure additional revenues. Meanwhile, domestic firms in Russia’s military-industrial sector are being subsidized by the Kremlin, enjoying new tax breaks, subsidies, and preferential leasing programs.
• Despite foreseeable increases in contributions to Russia’s militarised budget and the extensive material, reputational and legal risks associated with doing business in Russia, almost three quarters of foreign companies with local subsidiaries in Russia have chosen to continue operations there today. Almost all the top 20 revenue-generating companies have chosen to stay in the Russian market, continuing to earn substantial revenues and pay significant profit taxes to the state.
• The Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector plays a pivotal role in sustaining corporate contributions to the Russian budget. In 2023, this sector - which includes household names such as Mars, Nestle and Procter and Gamble - led the way as Russia’s top earner, followed in joint-third place by alcohol and tobacco and food and beverages. Combined, these consumer sectors brought in a huge $587.52 billion in revenue and paid $1.5 billion in profit tax - out-earning their nearest competitors in finance and automotive sectors...
• On average, multinationals with local subsidiaries in Russia earned just 2.2% of their global revenue in Russia in 2023. A fraction that is hard to justify in the face of the risks associated with remaining in Russia.