Russian Government to Pursue Nationalization of Assets of Foreign Companies Leaving Russia

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The Russian government, together with the parliament, is reportedly pushing for legislation to nationalize the assets of foreign companies that have announced business suspensions and are leaving Russia. It is expected that asset nationalization will begin primarily targeting companies from Western countries such as the United States and the European Union (EU), which have imposed strong sanctions against Russia.

According to Russian news agency TASS on the 9th (local time), the ruling party United Russia issued a statement saying, "The government’s legislative committee is preparing the first step toward nationalizing the assets of foreign organizations leaving the Russian market," and "some members of parliament have agreed to approve the proposals made earlier."

Earlier, on the 7th, Andrey Turchak, a senior official of United Russia and the First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council, proposed, "United Russia suggests nationalizing the facilities of companies that announced the closure of Russian production facilities during the Ukraine military operation," adding, "The West has launched a sanctions war against Russia, involving not only foreign governments but also private companies," thereby signaling asset nationalization measures against overseas companies.

The asset nationalization bill being promoted by the Russian government and parliament is expected to target companies in which foreigners from unfriendly countries, as designated by the Russian government, own 25% or more of shares and have ceased operations within Russia. The United Russia press office claimed, "This measure will help prevent corporate bankruptcies and maintain jobs."

Meanwhile, on the 7th, the Russian government designated a large number of countries participating in sanctions against Russia as unfriendly countries. Forty-eight countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Australia, Japan, and EU member states, were designated as unfriendly countries. Among them, asset nationalization measures are expected to be implemented targeting companies from Western countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and the EU, which are imposing the highest level of economic sanctions against Russia.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.