Russia has blocked repatriating $18B in dividends from Western companies.

Companies could not withdraw approximately $18B by the end of 2022, writes the FT. “Tens of billions of dollars are stuck in Russia. And there is no way to get them out,” the general director of one of the companies assessed.

The Austrian bank Raiffeisen received $2B in profit in Russia, and is among the companies from countries that Putin’s regime considers unfriendly. American groups Philip Morris and PepsiCo earned $775M and $718M, respectively. The Swedish group Scania received $621M in 2022 but has since left the country.

“The permission to distribute dividends has long become a kind of incentive for good behavior, which implies a clear position that you want to stay in Russia. One of my clients lost hope of receiving any dividends from there and simply wrote off everything,” according to the publication.

It is noted that the withdrawal of dividends has become a difficult task even for companies from even the so-called “friendly” countries to Russia, such as India.