Russia has no plans to nationalize the assets of foreign companies in the country, Economic Development Minister Alexey Ulyukayev said on Wednesday after meeting with German businessmen.
“Of course, we have no such plans,” Ulyukayev said, in comments to media reports that Russia could introduce “blacklists” and nationalize the assets of German companies.
Speaking after the meeting, organized by the Stuttgart chamber of commerce and industry, Ulyukayev said such issues are the “echo of the notorious law on compensations from Western sanctions.”
VTB CEO Andrey Kostin said at the meeting, the German companies expressed concerns that Russia could nationalize the assets of foreign companies, including those from Germany, in response to Western sanctions.
Kostin said the business in Germany, Moscow’s most active trading partner, is currently facing problems over financing the exports to Russia while “the Chinese have no such [difficulties].”
Germany’s state-owned KfW development bank and other banks have refused to help in view of sanctions introduced not only by the European Union, but also the United States, he said.