Large international corporations that remained in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, including tobacco company Philip Morris and food giant Danone, earned billions of dollars in that country last year, Politiko reported, citing data from a report by a civil society group and the School. economy in Kiev.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, dozens of international companies pulled out of Russia to save their reputation or protect their business, but those that stayed made tens of billions and paid the Kremlin billions in taxes.
According to the data provided in the report, global corporations earned 214 billion dollars through operations in Russia and paid 3,5 billion dollars in taxes to Moscow.
However, "Politiko" states that these figures are "only the tip of the iceberg and are probably significantly underestimated", since they do not include taxes on employee salaries or value added tax.
The boom comes despite efforts by the European Union to limit the Kremlin's revenues by passing 11 sanctions packages since the start of the war.
While most of the revenue comes from US companies, EU-based firms also earned an estimated $75,2 billion in 2022, paying the Russian government $600 million in taxes. The report states that Russia is using that money to finance the war, Politiko reported.
"New data shows that doing business in Russia has been extremely lucrative for the few companies that have decided to stay," the report said. "Especially worrisome is the extent to which these companies are paying billions of dollars in profit taxes to the Kremlin while Putin is waging a horrific war in Ukraine."
The report states that the biggest profit last year was made by the Philip Morris company in the amount of 7,9 billion dollars. The company Danone in Russia during the past year earned about three billion dollars, according to the report. It is also reported that the Pepsi company in Russia made a profit of 4,6 billion.
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