Companies in Russia - statistics & facts

In recent years, Russia has seen a decrease in active business enterprises. In 2021, around 2.6 million companies were registered in the country. The number of new business registrations dropped in 2020, primarily as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact. Like elsewhere in the world, the pandemic strengthened digital businesses in Russia, while industries negatively affected by the lockdown, such as air transportation and cinemas, suffered losses. In 2022, numerous international companies suspended operations in Russia in response to the war in Ukraine. Therefore, businesses across the country had to look for alternatives to service providers that exited the market, such as PayPal and Apple Pay, and to adapt to restrictions on trade of some commodities. Moreover, several key Russian companies were sanctioned directly. Examples include Rosneft, RT, Sberbank, and the United Aircraft Corporation.

Legal forms of companies in Russia

Owners can register companies in Russia in the form of legal entities or as individual entrepreneurs, also known as self-employed persons. Micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are more frequently established by individual entrepreneurs than as legal entities. The number of individual entrepreneurs increased in the country until 2019, but it marked a decrease in the two following years. In total, there were nearly 3.6 million individual entrepreneurs in Russia in 2021. In comparison, the legal entity count was around 3.4 million. The most common types of legal entities are limited liability companies (LLC, also known as OOO) and public and non-public joint-stock companies (JSC, or AO).

What are the largest Russian companies?

Energy giants Gazprom, Rosneft, and Lukoil were the highest-earning companies in Russia. Several major companies were owned or co-owned by the government, such as Gazprom, Rosneft, Sberbank, Russian Railways, Rostec, and Rosatom. The largest private company was Lukoil, followed by fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) retailers X5 Group and Magnit. By market capitalization, the leading company was Gazprom, while Sber had the highest brand value.

Foreign business activity in Russia during the war in Ukraine

More than one thousand foreign companies suspended operations in Russia to some extent as of October 2022, with most of them curtailing most or almost all operations temporarily. Furthermore, more than 300 businesses in various sectors exited the market completely, including Cisco, Exxon, Henkel, Ikea, Kinross Gold, McDonald's, Obi, and Siemens. Some of these businesses sold their Russian assets to domestic investors, which allowed their employees to keep their jobs. Out of the 10 highest-earning foreign companies in Russia, French Leroy Merlin and Auchan continued their activity in the country without scaling back.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, May 17, 2023

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Largest Russian public companies as compiled by the Forbes Global 2000 ranking of 2022, by market value (in billion U.S. dollars)

Business Enterprise

Largest public companies in Russia 2022, by market value

Number of active business enterprises in Russia from 2017 to 2022 (in millions)

Business Enterprise

Number of business enterprises in Russia 2017-2022

Number of active business enterprises in Russia in 2022, by industry (in 1,000s)

Business Enterprise

Number of business enterprises in Russia 2022, by sector

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Overview

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Overview

Financial results

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Registrations and closures

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Registrations and closures

MSMEs

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MSMEs

Leading companies

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Leading companies

Foreign companies

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Foreign companies

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