Putin moves to seize assets of ‘naughty’ Western companies fleeing Russia

Vladimir Putin has signed a secret decree to seize the assets of Western companies and make it harder for them to leave Russia. 

The Kremlin last week signed an order that will allow officials to appropriate “naughty” Western assets at cut-price rates and is also considering measures to fully nationalise businesses, the Financial Times reported.

The move would give the Russian state priority rights to buy any Western asset for sale at a “significant discount” so they can ultimately be sold at a profit.

It will also require all private buyers of Western companies to either be fully Russian-held or in the process of axing all foreign shareholders.

Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin’s spokesman, told the Financial Times that Western investors and companies were “more than welcome” in Russia but added that others had stopped paying salaries entirely or had moved to leave the country at a huge loss.

He added: “If a company doesn’t fulfil its obligations, then, of course, it goes in the category of naughty companies. We say goodbye to those companies. And what we do with their assets after that is our business.”

It comes after a number of Western corporate giants chose to stay in Russia despite Putin’s war against Ukraine.

Philip Morris International, the tobacco giant which makes Marlboro cigarettes, recently said it would “rather keep” its business in Russia despite lining up three credible buyers.

Unilever chief executive Alan Jope has said exiting the country “is not straightforward” and refused to “abandon” approximately 3,000 employees in Russia or let its assets fall into the hands of the Kremlin.

Meanwhile, Heineken said in February that it is grappling with “the very real risk” of Russia nationalising its local business.

The Dutch brewer has been warned by Russian officials that suspending or closing its local operations would be deemed “intentional bankruptcy”, a criminal offence which could see the Kremlin appoint external managers for the business.

French companies have come under particular fire for remaining in Russia, with Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, last year accusing a series of businesses in the country of “sponsoring the Russian war machine”.

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