The former assets of international companies that either exited the country or were nationalised in Russia after the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine struggle to grow, despite being picked up at massive discounts by new owners, a study by The Bell shows.

As closely followed by IntelliNews, assets held by companies from sanctioning countries or designated by Russia as “unfriendly” fell by 49% from $481bn at the beginning of 2022 to $244bn by the start of 2026.

The report by The Bell estimates that revenue at 92 former Russian subsidiaries of international companies that exited the country remained virtually unchanged at RUB2.3 trillion ($26.5bn) between 2021 and 2025, while combined net profit fell 20% to RUB140bn from RUB175bn. 

The number of loss-making companies almost doubled to 22 from 13, according to The Bell citing company financial statements.

More than 500 international companies have left Russia over four years of war, often transferring local assets to Russian buyers at discounts that could reach 90%–100% of assets’ market value. 

While President Vladimir Putin has recently described the process as leaving Russian owners a “pretty good inheritance”, The Bell’s analysis suggests many of the acquired businesses have failed to generate meaningful real growth once separated from their former global parents.

The 92 companies analysed by The Bell substantially underperformed the wider Russian economy, with their total turnover increasing 41.3% between 2021 and 2025, according to Rosstat, while cumulative GDP growth reached 8.7%.

As cumulative inflation over the same period reached 50.2%, the flat RUB2.3 trillion nominal revenue recorded by the former foreign subsidiaries represented a substantial contraction in real terms, the report argues. 

Profitability also weakened in the hands of new owners, as combined net profit fell RUB35bn over the four years to RUB140bn, while the number of companies reporting losses rose to 22 from 13.

The pattern across the 92 companies suggests that the best-performing acquisitions have generally been businesses serving domestic consumer demand and able to preserve valuable brands, distribution networks or established customer behaviour.

The strongest performance came from consumer-facing industries. Revenue from the retail and restaurant businesses in The Bell’s sample almost doubled to RUB423.8bn in 2025 from RUB241.8bn in 2021. Revenue among fast-moving consumer goods producers increased 35% to RUB975.5bn from RUB721bn. These were the only major sectors in the sample where meaningful nominal growth continued.

However, much of the retail improvement was highly concentrated. Around 80% of the increase was generated by Vkusno i Tochka, the business created from the Russian operations of US fast food group McDonald’s (MCD). In addition, part of that increase was organisational rather than organic, due to Vkusno i Tochka’s new operating entity consolidating four separate legal entities previously used by McDonald’s in Russia.

The business also stopped paying for the McDonald’s brand. Concession payments to the former parent had totalled RUB3.8bn in 2021, providing an immediate cost saving after the Russian operation was separated.

Former tobacco majors were another important source of FMCG growth. Former Russian subsidiaries of Imperial Brands (IMB) and British American Tobacco (BATS) accounted for more than one third of the sector’s increase, adding a combined RUB92.5bn of revenue.

The Bell notes that those businesses also stopped making payments to their former parent companies after ownership changed. Unlike many other transferred businesses, however, they retained rights to cigarette brands. 

Former Carlsberg subsidiary Baltika generated another RUB63.3bn of the FMCG revenue increase, accounting for almost one quarter of the sector’s growth. An industry source commented to The Bell that three factors explained Baltika’s performance: successfully repositioning former Carlsberg brands, stopping dividend payments to its former owner and launching successful new products.

The source’s assessment suggests that businesses where Russian buyers retained established brands, production capacity and domestic demand have generally had better prospects than assets reliant on international supply chains or continuing technical support from their former parents.

The clearest example of the latter problem is the automotive industry: the revenue among the former foreign-owned carmakers in The Bell’s sample collapsed 14-fold to RUB35.1bn in 2025 from RUB511.5bn in 2021.

Factories previously operated by Volkswagen (VOW3), Hyundai Motor, Kia, Toyota Motor and Mercedes-Benz Group (MBG) stopped operating in the early stages of the war after supplies of components were disrupted and new Russian owners subsequently struggled to replace those supply chains. Attempts to reach agreements with Chinese manufacturers to use the plants for vehicle assembly proved more difficult than originally expected, The Bell reminds.

There were exceptions, however, as the former Bosch appliance plant near St Petersburg returned to profit in 2025 after switching to refrigerators assembled using Chinese components. The factory made RUB193mn of profit in 2025 after recording a RUB1.7bn loss in 2024. The recovery shows that some industrial assets can be adapted to alternative supply chains.

The scale of operations still remained dramatically below the pre-war level. Revenue at the former Bosch plant was only RUB422.4mn in 2025 compared with RUB50bn in 2021.

The biggest individual loss in The Bell’s sample was recorded by Ilim Group, the former joint venture with US paper producer International Paper (IP), which reported a RUB16.5bn loss for 2025.

Several other former foreign businesses have moved closer to insolvency. Russia’s Federal Tax Service is seeking to have the former Otis Worldwide (OTIS) lift factory in Shcherbinka declared bankrupt.

The Desport sporting goods chain, which was created from the former Russian operations of French retailer Decathlon, has also faced mounting creditor pressure. Thirteen creditors have announced plans to seek its bankruptcy since the beginning of 2026. Suppliers have also filed claims against OBI’s former Russian operations. The business recorded a RUB4.5bn loss in 2025.

The fact that most companies in The Bell’s sample remain profitable also means that the transfer of foreign assets has not resulted in wholesale business failure. But their aggregate performance is far weaker than the broader growth in Russian nominal turnover since 2021.

The Bell concluded that the acquisitions can nevertheless remain advantageous for their new owners because the initial discounts were so extreme. Even weakly performing assets can retain substantial resale or liquidation value compared with acquisition prices that in some cases amounted to little more than a symbolic sum.

The companies that remain profitable also now pay taxes into the Russian budget rather than transferring part of their earnings to foreign parent groups. This means that despite weaker operating performance, ownership of the former Western subsidiaries has shifted both profits and tax revenues deeper into the domestic Russian economy.