Most foreign companies still operating in Russia are from the United States.

American companies have retained their leadership in the ranking of the largest foreign companies in Russia according to the Russian Forbes, despite the massive exodus of Western businesses from the country due to the war in Ukraine.

Forbes has compiled its annual list of the 50 largest foreign companies in Russia in 2022. The rating has been updated by almost half – 22 companies dropped out due to the sale, suspension or closure of business in Russia, the publication writes.

The first place was taken by the French chain of home furnishings stores Leroy Merlin, pushing the German Volkswagen Group as the automaker left the Russian market.

However, Leroy Merlin will not be in the 2023 ranking, as in March Leroy Merlin announced that it plans to transfer control of its Russian business to local management.

Among the 22 companies that have already left the list, in addition to Volkswagen, there are Renault (the company was in third place), Apple (it was in fifth place), Toyota (seventh) and Samsung (ninth).

Chinese business has sharply increased its presence in the ranking, but companies from "unfriendly countries," as the Russian authorities call them, still make up the majority, Forbes notes.

The United States retained its leadership: a year ago, there were 10 companies in the ranking, and now there are eight. The second and third places in the ranking were taken by tobacco producers – Japanese JTGroup and American Philip Morris International.

PepsiCo is in fourth place, and French retailer Auchan is in fifth place.

The military 2022 top ten also includes German Metro and the Russian business of Mars, which is also headquartered in the United States.

Background. As a reminder, a Russian missile destroyed a PepsiCo plant in the Kyiv region, which continues to operate in Russia.