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Nicholas Piper
It is a turning point, also for Western entrepreneurs. In the 1990s, after the end of the communist dictatorship, they had hopefully gone to Russia to develop the country, supply Russian consumers with their goods, create jobs and, of course, make a lot of money in the process. Russia was gradually drawn into capitalist globalization. On February 24, 2022, when dictator Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, the trend reversed in one fell swoop. Western companies are now fleeing Russia – such as McDonalds, Starbucks, Ikea, Volkswagen, Siemens, Bosch-Siemens-Hausgeräte. Most freeze their business and wait for a while, others want to say goodbye to Russia altogether. They must now expect to be expropriated by Putin.