Russia has been waging war against Ukraine since February 2022. And that costs money. A lot of money. President Vladimir Putin is resorting to drastic measures to finance the war and thus damage the Russian economy in the long term. It has been known for some time that Russia uses expropriations of companies and war critics to inject money into the coffers. A report now also shows how lucrative this approach is. Over the past three years, Russian authorities have seized corporate assets worth around €43 billion.

This is shown by an analysis by the Moscow law firm Nektorov, Saveliev & Partners. In the past twelve months alone, the value of confiscated assets has tripled. The law firm counted a total of 102 expropriation cases. The authorities are targeting both Russian and Western companies. The Austrian OMV is also among the affected companies. Russia had seized shares held by OMV in a gas production project in Siberia and transferred them to Russian companies.

But Russian companies are reportedly no longer truly protected. According to Bloomberg, the reasons given for the expropriations include corruption or accusations of extremism. Expropriations Pour Money into the Coffers Expropriations do not leave the Russian economy unscathed: on the one hand, they can strengthen state finances and increase state power. On the other hand, seizures weaken the economy, especially the private sector, according to a Bloomberg report. Gas and oil revenues plummeted.

Economist Andrei Yaklovlev is certain that expropriations will reduce Russia's economic performance. For Russian authorities, however, expropriations are an attractive business model: they can then resell the expropriated companies, which generates money. Yakovlev estimates that "at least half of all regional entrepreneurs" should expect expropriation. So far, the Russian economy has stayed afloat in the war despite numerous sanctions, but it continues to tighten: oil and gas revenues plummeted by a third in June, interest rates are at a very high level, experts warn of a debt crisis, and US President Donald Trump has recently adopted a tough tone toward Putin, Trump explained at the White House.