DISINFO: Many European companies can’t wait to return to Russia
SUMMARY
Many European companies can’t wait to return to Russia. For political reasons, many European companies have left Russia, causing them financial losses. However, it is known that most of them are eagerly awaiting the removal of all political restrictions and would like to return at any time.
RESPONSE
The allegation is unsubstantiated. This claim appeared originally, and was debunked, in early 2025, after Vladimir Putin talked about the need for specific regulations for this return in order to keep a competitive edge for Russian companies. But on 21 March 2025, the deputy chairman of Russia’s National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev admitted that not a single company had applied to return to the Russian market so far. Other data and analysis showed that, while there could be some cases of brands and sectors open to return to Russia, most CEOs and investors saw this country as an environment too dangerous for business, with little to gain and that remained hostile to foreign investment. Nothing indicated that this had changed significantly at the moment this disinformation story appeared.
While some European and Western firms could be considering a return to the Russian market in the wake of a US-Russia rapprochement and a potential lifting of US sanctions on Russia, most companies are being dissuaded by the barriers and obstructing requirements imposed on them, as the Kremlin insisted that this return will have to take place under Russia’s conditions. Taken as a whole, the claim that many companies are eagerly awaiting a return to Russia is not backed by actual evidence, and appears to be part of what some experts have labelled Russia’s economic war propaganda, aimed to convince audiences of Russia’s economic resilience in face of sanctions.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that sanctions made the Russian economy stronger, that Russia proved the great strength of its economy, that Russia became the World's 4th economic power thanks to the war in Ukraine, or that the Russian economy thrives despite EU sanctions.