"Went to the Russian Military Treasury": the Russian Federation received $ 1.25 billion after the departure of Western companies - NYT
Putin establishes the conditions for departure of companies from Russia, which are beneficial to his government, elite and strategic interests of the country. About it writes The New York Times. The source reports that immediately after the start of the full -scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine in February 2022, hundreds of companies began to announce their decision to withdraw from Russia.
Politicians and activists have suggested that such actions would be able to put pressure on the Russian economy and undermine the Kremlin's military efforts. "But President Putin had other plans. He turned the exit of major Western companies from the Russian Federation into a surplus for the Russian elite and the state itself. He forced the companies that wanted to sell Russian business, to expose a reduced price tag, and sometimes simply captured firms" , - the newspaper notes.
According to New York Times, Western companies that have declared their departure from Russia have announced more than $ 103 billion in losses since the Great War. This follows from the analysis of the financial statements conducted by the publication. "Putin squeezes as much as possible from the companies as possible, dictating the conditions of their exit. He also laid these outputs by constantly growing taxes, which brought at least $ 1.
25 billion in the last year to the Russian military treasury," NyT notes. However, as the newspaper notes, no agreement is "safe". For example, the Dutch company Heineken found a buyer in the spring and set a price. However, according to New York Times sources, the Russian government unilaterally rejected this agreement and transferred Russian assets to a local loyal manufacturer.
"In general, Putin has controlled one of the greatest redistributions of wealth in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Huge industries - elevators, tires, industrial coverage, etc. - are now in the hands of Russian players who are increasingly dominated. It ends with a decrease in the price of sales and sometimes the emergence of a new buyer.
After that, the agreement is transferred to Putin's commission, which includes the head of the Ministry of Finance Anton Siluanov, Kremlin officials, Central Bank and other key ministries. At the same time, as the newspaper notes. departure of Western companies. October economic specialist and chairman of the New Country Charitable Foundation Andriy Novak expressed his opinion that a default had already occurred in the middle of Russia, because the state cannot fulfill its debt.