Foreign Businesses Reluctant to Leave Russian Market

Foreign businesses are not eager to leave the Russian market and prefer to operate in the shadows, avoiding advertising their activities in Russia, said Maxim Topilin, head of the State Duma's Economic Policy Committee, to RIA Novosti.

"Western businessmen, financiers, and investors today, of course, will not openly say that they are against anti-Russian sanctions, but believe me, they all want to continue operating in Russia and do not want to leave our market. They are striving to do everything possible to avoid losing the huge amounts of money they have always earned in our country," he stated.

"Ultimately, the profitability of Western companies is unimaginably high. It is natural that Western businesses are so attached to Russia that they are willing to remain hidden as long as their activities do not stand out in our country," the Duma committee leader added. Topilin noted that representatives of the European Business Association were the first to meet with him during the recent St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.