European companies lose over €100B from operations in Russia since war start - FT

The largest European companies have suffered at least €100 billion in direct losses from their operations in Russia since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.

According to Ukrinform, this is stated in the analysis of the Financial Times.

A review of 600 European companies' annual reports and financial statements for 2023 shows that 176 companies have recorded asset impairments, currency exchange costs, and other one-time expenses as a result of selling, closing, or downsizing their businesses in Russia since the start of its invasion of Ukraine.

Even if a company lost a lot of money by leaving Russia, those who stayed risked much greater losses. It turned out that the best strategy for companies that were deciding what to do at the beginning of the war was to cut and run. The sooner you left Russia, the lower your losses were, Nabi Abdullaev, an analyst at Control Risks, a strategic consulting company, said.

The largest losses were recorded in the oil industry. Only three companies, BP, Shell and TotalEnergies, reported total losses of €40.6 billion after leaving Russia.

However, these losses were largely offset by higher oil and gas prices, which helped these companies to post huge combined profits of about €95 billion last year.

Industrial companies, including automobile manufacturers, suffered losses of €13.6 billion. Financial companies, including banks, insurers, and investment companies, recorded €17.5 billion in write-downs and other charges.

As Ukrinform reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky calls on foreign businesses to stop working in Russia and not to finance Russia's war against Ukraine with their taxes.