LONDON- Multinationals have few good options when it comes to Russia. President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions have given many Western companies financial, legal and moral reasons to leave. The threat of expropriation weighed up against the hope of finding a foreign buyer will determine how quickly the remaining ones move.
The rush for the door isn’t letting up. McDonald’s said on Monday it had started a sale process for its Russian outlets which would end the $181 billion burger chain’s 30-year presence in Russia. Renault is selling its majority stake in carmaker Avtovaz to a local science institute. They’re following the likes of cosmetics group L’Oréal, which risked a consumer boycott in other markets if it continued making money in Russia. Bans on importing Western-made microchips also gave tech companies like Apple little choice but to
depart.
The problem with selling in a hurry is that buyers tend to be pro-Kremlin oligarchs like Vladimir Potanin, who bought French lender SociétéGénérale’s Russian operations for a nominal sum. One of the reasons consumer groups like Nestlé and Unilever are staying in Russia is that leaving would effectively mean handing over their assets to Putin’s regime.
