Despite bold rhetoric and sweeping sanctions, Western multinational corporations never truly left Russia. Instead, 1,600 of them thrived, pouring billions into Moscow’s economy and fueling its war chest, according to a report by the Kyiv School of Economics, B4Ukraine, and the Squeezing Putin pressure group.
In 2023 alone, over 2,000 Western firms still active in Russia raked in $197 billion in revenue and nearly $17 billion in profits. More strikingly, they paid $21.6 billion in taxes—roughly one-third of Russia’s projected 2025 military budget. U.S. and German companies alone contributed $1.2 billion and $692.5 million, respectively, to the Kremlin’s coffers.
Italian corporations, too, refused to cut ties. Major brands like Ferrero, Benetton, and Calzedonia remained, with Ferrero alone generating $740 million last year. Italy ranks eighth in corporate presence, trailing the U.S. (795 firms), Germany (495), and the UK (292).
Meanwhile, European governments, pressured into sanctioning Russia, have faced economic hardship—rising inflation, soaring energy costs, and weakened security due to depleting arms stockpiles. Yet, while these same nations call for unwavering support for Ukraine, their own corporations continue to profit in Russia, inadvertently funding the very war they claim to oppose.
