Russia Looks to Fleeing Foreign Firms to Boost Wartime Budget
- Deals to sell assets now require contribution to state budget
- Russia seeks revenues with budget deficit seen at 2% of GDP
A Russian flag at the Embassy of Russia in Washington, DC in April 2021.
Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The Kremlin is giving foreign companies a way out of Russia at a price, to help bolster the state budget amid surging wartime expenditure.
Businesses seeking to sell their Russian assets now face a mandatory contribution to the budget even if they offload them for a symbolic sum or even zero. That’s because under the rules introduced last week a donation equal to at least 10% of the market value of a company must be paid if the seller offers it at a discount of 90% or more.