Western business owners risk being ‘robbed and killed' if they return to Russia

Telegraph

20-02-2025

US companies returning to Russia risk having their businesses and staff 'robbed and killed', campaigners have warned, amid calls from the Trump administration to rebuild economic links.
Sir Bill Browder, a financier turned anti-Russian corruption campaigner, said American businesses should be wary of the risks of returning to the country.
Sir Bill, whose fund was once Russia's biggest foreign investor, said: 'American companies will do what's in their self interest, and there's no self interest in going into Russia where you can be robbed and killed. Nobody is going to risk their capital.'
Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who represented Sir Bill in Russia, was tortured and killed in a Moscow prison in 2009 after he uncovered a web of alleged corruption. Sir Bill has since been on a mission to secure justice for the Magnitsky family. In 2012, the Magnitsky Act was passed in the US to punish those who could have been involved in his death.
His comments come after Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, claimed there were 'incredible opportunities that exist to partner with the Russians, geopolitically on issues of common interest and frankly economically'.
Closer economic ties between the US and Russia were discussed at a meeting between the two countries in Saudi Arabia this week, which principally focused on how to end the war in Ukraine. The summit has provoked panic and outrage in Kyiv and other European capitals for excluding the Ukrainians and European leaders.
Sir Bill said Western investment was unlikely to pour back into Russia despite Moscow's charm offensive of the Trump administration as 'nobody is going to want to get caught in that mess'.
He said: 'The only thing that might happen is that companies which sell products into Russia [could start reselling products there], but nobody is going to invest a penny over there.'
B4Ukraine, a campaign group that has pressured businesses to leave Russia, said it was calling on 'all Western businesses to stay out of Russia until it fully withdraws from Ukraine and justice is served to the Ukrainian people'.
It added: 'Any company choosing to return before then will be complicit in enabling an illegal war and occupation. There is no ethical way to operate in a country waging a genocidal war against its neighbour.'
Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, said after the meeting with Mr Rubio this week that there was 'great interest ... in removing artificial barriers to the development of mutually beneficial economic cooperation'.
Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, claimed US businesses could return to within months. He told Reuters that the Russian Direct Investment Fund 'expects a number of American companies to return to the Russian market in the second quarter of 2025'.
Mr Dmitriev said he believed US oil companies that had 'very successful business in Russia' would 'at some point' return. He added: 'Why would they forego these opportunities that Russia gave them to have access to Russian natural resources?'
At this week's meeting in Saudi Arabia, the sovereign wealth chief handed out a document showing that American companies had walked away from around $324bn (£257bn) of investments by quitting Russia, according to The New York Times.
Nezir Sinani, of B4Ukraine, said the Kremlin's control over the Russian economy meant businesses had no certainty about investments there.
He said: 'Companies rushing back to Russia are playing a reckless game of Russian roulette. No matter what deal the Trump administration strikes with the Kremlin, Russia remains a lawless, high-risk market where foreign businesses are at the mercy of an unpredictable regime.
'The Russian government has a long history of seizing assets, weaponising regulations and using businesses as pawns in its geopolitical games. Any company that returns is gambling with its investments, exposing itself to sudden expropriation, and the whims of an authoritarian state that views Western firms as expendable.'
The Kremlin has been accused of illegally taking control of the assets of some Western businesses such as Carlsberg and Danone, whose Russian subsidiaries were seized in 2023 as they were trying to exit the country. This came after Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree that gave him powers to commandeer Western businesses. Jacob Aarup-Andersen, Carlsberg's chief executive, accused Russia of having 'stolen' his subsidiary in the country.
Mr Sinani said: 'Beyond financial risk, the reputational damage could be catastrophic. Companies that once took a stand by leaving will be seen as hypocrites, prioritising profit over principle. The message is clear: doing business in Russia isn't just risky – it's a moral and strategic failure.'
Ukraine on Wednesday said it would continue to 'defend our right to exist' after Mr Trump blamed the country for starting the war in 2022 and launched a series of attacks on President Volodymyr Zelensky.