The West Thought It Was Punishing Russia—But Instead It Forced Its Own Companies to Hand Over Decades of Assets to Kremlin-Aligned Buyers
What happens when global corporations try to leave a hostile market—but the state controls the exit, the price, and the buyer? This is the story of how billions in Western-built assets didn’t disappear from Russia—they were quietly handed over. The Exit That Wasn’t an Exit In early 2022, as Russian troops crossed into Ukraine, the global corporate world reacted with unprecedented speed. Boardrooms from Copenhagen to Chicago, from London to Tokyo, made decisions that would have once seemed unthinkable. They would leave Russia. Not gradually. Not cautiously. But decisively—sometimes within days. Logos vanished. Announcements flooded the media. Press releases carried moral clarity: “We are suspending operations in Russia.” “We are exiting the Russian market.” “We stand with Ukraine.” For a moment, it appeared as though the global economic system itself had turned against Russia. Multinationals—symbols of globalization—were pulling out en masse. The expectation wa...