Western Corporations Suffer Losses From Russia Exodus On Par With Slovenia's GDP

Sputnik recently conducted a financial assessment, revealing that the total losses incurred by Western companies that withdrew from Russia following the onset of the special military operation are approximately 17 times greater than McDonald's net profit for 2022. These losses are also comparable to the GDP of Slovenia.

A recent article in The New York Times, supported by a comprehensive financial evaluation, has concluded that businesses that opted to ditch their operations in Russia have seen over $100 billion go up in smoke.

“Western companies that have announced departures [from Russia] have declared more than $103 billion in losses,” the article reads.

This amount is 16.7 times greater than McDonald's consolidated net income of $6.177 billion earned in 2022. According to Sputnik, McDonald's took the biggest hit among other American companies due to its exit. The fast food chain has incurred a loss of approximately $1.2 billion, with Baker Hughes, an oil field services company, ranking second with losses totaling $482 million.

Besides, the losses of those that quit the Russian market have exceeded Apple’s net profit, yielding just under $100 billion in 2022 ($99.803 billion). The new financial estimates also demonstrate that the financial damage to Western “deserters” are 2.5 times higher than Shell’s last year’s net profit ($42.31 billion).

The announcements of major clothing brands leaving Russia caused quite a stir too. That being said, neither seem to be perfectly happy with the decision to leave the lucrative Russian market.

The overall losses ended up being 23.8 times higher than Inditex Group's net profits, which amounted to $4.32 billion for the 2022-2023 financial year. Inditex Group is among the world’s largest clothing and shoe retailers (including such popular brands like Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho).

Sputnik's calculations also suggest that the money lost from pulling out of the Russian market is on par with Slovenia's GDP for 2022, which amounted to $106 billion.

In light of Moscow’s special military op in Ukraine, Western governments have dramatically cranked up economic pressure on Russia. However, the efforts bore little fruit, as most companies were swiftly substituted or taken over by Russia’s domestic brands.

“Those who are leaving are losing their position […] And of course, their property is being bought at a serious discount and taken over by our companies, which are doing it with pleasure,” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with The Times publication.

A remarkable trend witnessed in Russia is the country's overall positive economic dynamic, noted earlier by President Vladimir Putin.

"We have boosted our economic sovereignty. After all, what did our enemy count on? That we would collapse in two or three weeks or in a month — that's what they were counting on," the president stressed.