Russian companies are engaged in large-scale expansion in friendly countries.

According to Izvestia, tax rebates and opportunities to increase exports are the driving force behind the opening of new branches by Russian companies. According to Finion's report, Russian companies have opened almost 12,000 branches in Serbia, the United Arab Emirates, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan since 2022. Topping the list was Serbia with 9,000 new openings, including online stores, kindergartens, manufacturing facilities, real estate companies and co-working spaces, as well as law and business consulting firms.

Vyacheslav Kartamyshev, the head and founder of Finion, noted that Russian enterprises in friendly countries are successfully developing despite the difficulties related to local banking and payment settlement policies. He noted that the number of Russian citizens living in Serbia has grown from several thousand to 200,000 in the last few years.

According to Antonina Levashenko, head of the Russian Center for Competence and Analysis of OECD Standards, Russian companies have opened 800 branches in Armenia and 450 in Kyrgyzstan. These countries are members of the Eurasian Economic Union, which includes five post-Soviet states, with simplified customs and tax procedures, as well as simplified registration for Russian enterprises.

Over the past two years, about 1,600 branches have been opened in the UAE, which has traditionally been a popular destination for Russian businesses. Economists attribute the expansion of business in the country to the closure of accounts of hundreds of Russian companies and enterprises in the European Union due to Ukraine-related sanctions.

Sectors that registered the highest growth in new branches included IT, logistics and services.

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