Russia has seized assets worth about $50 billion as it shifts its economic organization toward an increasingly controlled model during the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Russian economy is being transformed into what it has called a \u201cfortress,\u201d partly because of sanctions. Its transformation, ordered by Vladimir Putin, is being carried out with a significant transfer of assets, as many Western companies have left the Russian market. The assets of other companies have been expropriated and the assets of some large Russian enterprises have been seized by the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Domestic companies change hands<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Accusing the West of illegal actions, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed decrees during the three years of the war that allowed the seizure of Western assets. Among the companies that have suffered the consequences of this policy have been Germany\u2019s Uniper and Danish brewer Carlsberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, large domestic companies have changed hands under different legal mechanisms, such as the need for strategic resources, allegations of corruption, alleged privatization violations or mismanagement. According to the Moscow law firm NSP (Nektorov, Saveliev & Partners), the scale of what it calls \u201cnationalization\u201d has reached 3.9 trillion rubles over three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the USSR to Putin\u2019s Russia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, many predicted that Russia would transform into a free-market economy integrated into the global economy. However, due to widespread corruption, financial turmoil and organized crime, these expectations have not been met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vladimir Putin, in his first eight years in power, championed economic freedoms, targeted some so-called oligarchs and led a significant economic boom. GDP rose to $1.8 trillion in 2008 from $200 billion in 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And despite Western sanctions after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Russian economy grew to $2.3 trillion between 2008 and 2022, according to IMF figures. And despite the fact that the Russian economy performed better than expected during the war in Ukraine, its nominal size in dollars in 2024 was just $2.2 trillion. Far smaller than that of China, the European Union or the United States. A sign that it is slowing down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fortress Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Russian officials say the war in Ukraine has necessitated extraordinary measures to prevent the West from sinking the Russian economy. They were apparently referring to Western sanctions, which have targeted Russia\u2019s banking system as well as its gas and oil exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vladimir Putin says the exodus of Western companies from Russia has allowed domestic companies to take their place. And that Western sanctions have forced domestic companies to grow. The Russian president has called for a \u201cnew development model\u201d for the country, different from \u201coutdated globalization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the war continues, the economy is shifting toward arms production to support the protracted conflict in Ukraine. The state has thus gained a stronger position in the economy than private companies. Russian prosecutors are now seeking to seize billionaire Konstantin Strukov\u2019s majority stake in Uzhuralzoloto for the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than a thousand companies have left Russia since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022. Either by selling their assets, handing over the keys to existing managers, or simply abandoning them. Others have had their assets seized and sold off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Russia has seized assets worth about $50 billion as it shifts its economic organization toward an increasingly controlled model during the war in Ukraine….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[821,390],"tags":[2058,1983,7133,58,1166],"class_list":["post-25130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","category-politics","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-nationalization","tag-russia","tag-vladimir-putin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25133,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25130\/revisions\/25133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}