Foreign companies inject $385m in Russian budget

As foreign companies continue to exit Russia, their departure has contributed a total of 35.7 billion roubles ($385 million) to the Russian budget so far this year, surpassing full-year expectations, according to Reuters citing online budget data.

Russia has steadily tightened exit requirements for departing companies, demanding approval from a government commission, a 50 per cent discount on any sale, and a contribution to the federal budget of at least 10 per cent of the sale price, commonly referred to as an “exit tax” by Washington.

Reuters previously reported that some foreign companies trying to exit Russia were facing increased costs as Moscow demanded larger discounts.

Data first reported by Russia’s RBC daily on Wednesday highlighted that increases in the budget contribution rate have raised costs for departing businesses.

According to the central bank, Russian banks had lent 500 billion roubles ($5.4 billion) for transactions enabling foreign companies to exit the market by the end of 2023.

(1 dollar equals 92.6200 roubles)