Kremlin Grabs $50 Billion in Assets as Russia Doubles Down on Wartime Economy

Russian authorities have seized an estimated $50 billion in assets over the last three years, highlighting the country’s rapid shift toward a “fortress Russia” economic model amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, new research reveals.

Since the invasion began, Russia has witnessed a sweeping redistribution of property: Western companies have fled or been forced out, foreign assets have been expropriated, and major Russian businesses have seen their holdings taken over by the state.

In a direct response to what Moscow calls “illegal” Western actions, President Vladimir Putin has signed a series of decrees authorizing the takeover of Western-owned assets, ensnaring giants from Germany’s Uniper to Denmark’s Carlsberg.

But it’s not just foreign interests in the crosshairs—domestic corporations have also changed hands, often under the pretext of protecting strategic resources, rooting out corruption, undoing alleged privatization violations, or punishing mismanagement.

According to NSP, a leading Moscow law firm, the scale of this “nationalization” has reached 3.9 trillion roubles in the past three years. The findings, first published by Russian newspaper Kommersant, paint a clear picture: Russia’s economy is being rapidly restructured for wartime resilience.

After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, hopes soared that Russia would embrace free-market capitalism and integrate with the global economy. But those dreams soon faded, undermined by rampant corruption and economic chaos in the 1990s.

Putin’s early years in power saw rapid economic growth, with GDP soaring from $200 billion in 1999 to $1.8 trillion in 2008. Growth continued—though at a slower pace—despite heavy Western sanctions following the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Yet today, Russia’s economy remains dwarfed by global heavyweights. The IMF estimates Russia’s nominal GDP at $2.2 trillion in 2024—a far cry from the economies of China, the EU, or the United States.

Officials in Moscow say the Ukraine war has forced Russia into unprecedented measures to shield itself from Western economic pressure. Putin argues that the mass exit of Western firms has empowered Russian producers and accelerated homegrown development, calling for a new economic model independent of “outdated globalization.”

But critics warn that Russia’s wartime transformation has put the state—and those loyal to it—in the driver’s seat, leaving private business increasingly sidelined as the economy retools for a protracted conflict.