In 2023, US and EU companies paid approximately $3.5 billion in taxes on profits in Russia, bolstering the Kremlin’s finances despite international calls for businesses to exit following Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Financial Times reported.
According to estimates by campaign group B4Ukraine and the Kyiv School of Economics Institute, businesses based in G7 and EU nations accounted for 17 of the top 20 contributors to Russian corporate profit tax last year. While hundreds of multinational corporations have left or scaled back operations in Russia since the invasion, nearly 2,000 companies continued to operate, collectively paying $21.6 billion in various taxes, including value-added, payroll, and exit taxes.
Since the invasion, these companies have paid an estimated $41.6 billion in taxes—equivalent to about 10% of Russia’s projected government expenditure in 2025. This revenue supports a record $133.6 billion defense budget earmarked by Russia’s finance ministry.
US companies led foreign contributions, with Philip Morris International, PepsiCo, Mars, Procter & Gamble, and Mondelez paying a total of $1.2 billion in corporate taxes. Mondelez’s chief executive previously told the Financial Times that shareholders had not pressured the company to exit Russia, with some investors reportedly indifferent to the moral implications.
German firms were the second-largest contributors, paying $693 million, including $42.3 million from Adidas, which suspended operations in Russia after the invasion. Austrian companies followed, contributing $579 million, with Vienna-based Raiffeisen Bank International accounting for over 80% of the total. The bank, under pressure from the European Central Bank, has been reducing its Russian operations and loan portfolio while seeking to deconsolidate its Russian subsidiary.
The Kremlin has imposed strict exit taxes and discounted asset sale requirements for businesses from “unfriendly” countries, complicating withdrawal efforts. According to economist Vasily Astrov of the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, companies that delayed their exit are now facing significant financial and operational hurdles.
B4Ukraine’s Nataliya Popovych criticized the companies for prioritizing short-term gains, noting they now face rising taxes, military support demands, and risks of asset expropriation. She described them as “hostages to their own greed.”
