International firms could effectively be bankrolling 1 million Russian soldiers through taxes paid in the country, a report suggests.
According to figures from campaign group B4Ukraine and the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) Institute shared exclusively with Newsweek, foreign companies in Russia paid the country at least $20 billion in taxes in 2024. This figure, they said, was enough to pay for the salaries of one million Russian soldiers.
Why It Matters
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, there has been international pressure for companies around the world to cease business operations in the country to show their moral opposition to the conflict and to put economic pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s regime.
However, many remained and companies that do business in Russia contribute to the Russian economy via profit taxes.
What To Know
The 1 million soldiers figure was calculated using a news report that said Russian soldiers in the Kemerovo Region earn $18,400 per contract.
B4Ukraine and KSE Institute’s report also found that, since the war in Ukraine started, foreign companies have paid over $60 billion in taxes to Russia—half of Russia’s military budget for 2025 alone.
The five companies that paid the most profit tax in Russia in 2024 were Austrian bank Raiffeisen Bank ($402 million), Chinese car manufacturer Chery Automobile ($222 million), multinational tobacco company Philip Morris International ($220 million), Japanese tobacco company Japan Tobacco International (JTI; $182 million) and French home improvement and gardening retailer Leroy Merlin ($128 million).
JTI told Newsweek: “JTI operates globally and continues its manufacturing and sales operations in Russia in full compliance with all applicable regulations, including but not limited to economic sanctions, export controls, and tax requirements. We continue to closely monitor legislative developments, as well as the situation on the ground and review our options.
“It is important to highlight that tobacco excise taxes in Russia will continue to be paid by consumers in the end, regardless of who eventually owns the company.”
Newsweek has contacted Raiffeisen Bank, Chery Automobile, Philip Morris and Leroy Merlin by email to comment on this story.
Philip Morris International previously said it suspended planned investments and scaled down its manufacturing operations in Russia when war broke out. But in February 2023, CEO Jacek Olczak told the Financial Times that he was unwilling to sell the business on Kremlin terms because of the financial hit it would entail.
What People Are Saying
B4Ukraine and KSE Institute’s report said: “The presence of such firms in the Russian market is not merely a commercial concern to the G7 and allies; it constitutes a growing economic-security threat with implications well beyond the battlefield. By making substantial tax contributions to Russia’s war chest, foreign companies are effectively subsidising the procurement of weapons and the payment of military salaries. Their financial involvement directly undermines Ukraine’s defensive capacity and contributes to wider regional insecurity.”
Mark Temnycky, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank’s Eurasia Center, told Newsweek: “Western companies should continue to withdraw their goods and services from Russia. The sales made by these companies help boost the Russian economy, and this supports Putin’s war, as the funds received in these transactions are being used to finance Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
What Happens Next
Whether these companies will continue to do business in Russia or bow to international pressure remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, foreign countries are also effectively supplementing Russia’s assault on Ukraine in other ways. One is by boosting their economy by importing Russian oil via third party countries. Another is by supplying electronic components to Russian weapons via intermediary trade routes.
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