09/20/2025
Russian business is in crisis: the number of registered companies has fallen to its lowest level in 15 years. As of September 1, 2025, only 3.17 million enterprises remained in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities of the Russian Federation, while in 2023 there were 3.29 million.
This was reported by the press service of the Foreign Intelligence Service. The key reasons are the high key rate of the Central Bank (21% for half a year) and increased tax control.
In 2024 alone, the tax authority liquidated 100,000 companies, in 2023 – 172,000, and in 2022 – over 214,000. This does not improve the market, but on the contrary – reduces competition, reduces jobs, and inhibits innovation.
In the first half of 2025, the “death rate” of business exceeded its “birth rate” by almost one and a half times – for the first time since 2022, when many companies left the market after sanctions. Trade, construction, and industrial enterprises were most often closed.
Despite the key rate being lowered to 17%, business in Russia continues to contract. The country’s economy is plunging into a protracted crisis, which is particularly affecting small and medium-sized businesses and limiting the development of key industries.
As OBOZ.UA reported, Russia’s closed demographic reports say that the country’s population could shrink by at least a quarter over the next 50 years. One of the main reasons is the ongoing war against Ukraine, which has killed and injured millions of men.