Western companies still operating in Russia were so profitable in 2022 that their corporate taxes contributed almost $4 billion to the country's revenues

Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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• The 100 largest Western companies still operating in Russia posted $13 billion in profits in 2022, per Novaya Gazeta.
• Profits jumped 54% from 2021 and the firms contributed $3.5 billion in corporate taxes in 2022.
•  Companies that made large profits from their Russian businesses include TotalEnergies, BP, and Raiffeisen Bank.

A rash of Western companies announced their exits from Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, but a few of them stayed on and made bank.

The top 100 Western companies that remained in Russia made so much money that they contributed nearly 288 billion rubles, or $3.5 billion, in corporate taxes in 2022, according to a June 8 report from Novaya Gazeta Europe.

For their report, the independent Russian news outlet reviewed financial statements from Russian-registered legal entities that were either wholly or partially owned by Western entities 

The bonanza for Russia's war chest came after the largest 100 Western companies still operating in Russia posted 1.1 trillion rubles in net profits collectively in 2022 — a 54% jump from 2021, per Novaya Gazeta.

The tax revenue contributed to Moscow represents 1% of Russia's budget revenue, per the media outlet. The biggest taxpayers were US, UK, and French companies who paid 40 billion, 47 billion, and 55 billion rubles, respectively.

Companies that made huge profits last year include French energy giant TotalEnergies, Austria's Raiffeisen Bank, and British oil giant BP, according to Novaya Gazeta. 

TotalEnergies continued with some business in Russia even after the invasion but finally announced in December 2022 it has "gradually started to withdraw from its Russian assets while ensuring that it continues to supply gas to Europe."

Austria's Raiffeisen Bank almost quadrupled its net profit to 141 billion rubles, per Novaya Gazeta. However, the lender is trying to spin off its operations in Russia, according to a May 23 report from Reuters, citing three people familiar with the matter.

Breaking up with Russia is a complicated process.

Like TotalEnergies, BP, and Raiffeisen Bank, many Western companies are still trying to leave Russia. But the break-up can be a long-drawn process.  

More than a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, just 525 companies have made a clean break with the country, according to an ongoing study from Yale University. That's despite 1,000 companies announcing they were voluntarily cutting back on operations merely two months after the Ukraine war started.

And it's not for lack of trying: More than 2,000 companies were seeking approval to exit the Russian market, the Financial Times reported in March, but the progress was slow due to logistical delays. 

Others who have varying degrees of active operations in Russia cannot simply pack up and go for a variety of business and non-business-related reasons, including operational, ethical, and policy challenges, Insider reported in March.

TotalEnergies, BP, and Raiffeisen Bank did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.

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