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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.
The number of company bankruptcies in EU countries in the Q2 of 2023 has reached the highest level since 2015, when they started collecting data, Yeni Şafak reported, citing Eurostat. The largest number of bankruptcies was filed by companies in accommodation and catering services - 23.9%, transportation and storage - 15.2%, education, health care and social security - 10.1%. The countries with the highest increase in the number of bankruptcy filings compared to the previous quarter were Hungary (40.8%), Latvia (24.8%), Estonia (24.6%). Overall, the number of bankrupt companies in the EU countries has been growing over the last six quarters. At the same time, the number of new companies in the second quarter of the year decreased by 0.6% compared to the Q1. The increase in bankruptcies across the EU is due the energy crisis in Europe and the high cost of living caused by rising inflation and, above all, higher food prices.
4.4 Fixed investment
Russia’s fixed investment rose by 7.6% in the first half of 2023 y/y, the Rosstat reported on August 30.
Fixed investment in the first half of the year amounted to over RUB11.625 trillion ($120bn).
Meanwhile, fixed investments in first half of the year also increased by 7.6% compared with the same period in 2021.
54 RUSSIA Country Report October 2023 www.intellinews.com