Russian Oligarchs Confront Putin over Creeping Nationalization: Report

A group of Russian business owners reportedly spoke with President Vladimir Putin this week about their fear of nationalization in the country.

Representatives of some of Russia’s largest businesses met with the Russian leader on November 15 to discuss the matter in Moscow, four informed sources, including those who attended, told Russian-language business daily newspaper Vedomosti.

Weeks into Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian officials said that Western companies who pull out of Russia of their own accord would have their assets nationalized. In May, 14 months into the war, the Kremlin began to nationalize the assets of foreign companies via a presidential decree—first targeting Finland’s Fortum and Germany’s Uniper, two of the largest investors in Russia’s power industry.

The U.K. newspaper Financial Times said that the beneficiaries of nationalization in Russia are only those whom Putin trusts, and those who are in his innermost circle. Firms Danone and Carlsberg, who have both had their Russian operations nationalized by Putin this year, are now effectively controlled by loyalists to the Kremlin regime.

Some of the participants of the meeting told Putin per The Moscow Times that the number of large companies that have been nationalized over the past year-and-a-half is frightening.

One businessman said the trend is developing progressively, and he cannot help but worry.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the meeting took place, but didn’t mention whether the topic of nationalization had been brought up.

“Indeed, yesterday the president had a meeting with representatives of big business. There was a detailed conversation,” Peskov said.

“There were various speeches, both business spoke and representatives of the economic bloc of the government spoke. Actually, the discussion was about possible steps to improve the investment attractiveness of our economy, to create more than competitive conditions for completing the process of transferring companies here,” Peskov added.

Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Foreign Ministry for additional comment via email.

Russia’s economy took a hit after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, being subjected to more than 13,000 restrictions. This makes it the world’s most-sanctioned country, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The effects are being felt nationwide, with support for the war falling as Russians feel the financial pinch caused by sanctions. This is according to a poll by independent Moscow-based research group Chronicles, released a year into the conflict.

Russia’s currency has also been affected, prompting the Central Bank to hike up interest rates from 8.5 percent to 12 percent at an emergency meeting in August. In October, the bank again moved to increase them to 15 percent per annum, saying that “a long period of maintaining tight monetary conditions in the economy” will be required.

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