Russian authorities assuming that significant portion of foreign business, including retail chains, will return to Russia - Reshetnikov

MOSCOW. March 14 (Interfax) - Russian authorities assume that a significant part of foreign business, including retail chains, will return to Russia, Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov told reporters.

"It depends on the foreign retail chains themselves, it is their decision to what extent and how to continue their activities here. At the moment, we are well aware that there are such decisions, but these decisions are associated with the suspension of activities, and a significant proportion of these decisions are due to problems with logistics, among other things. Foreign companies are facing the same problems as Russian business," he said, commenting on the withdrawal of foreign stores and retail chains from Russia.

"And when a week ago we had a meeting with foreign business that operates in Russia, the first question they raised was related to logistics, to the need to reconfigure production chains, to find suppliers in Asian countries and replace European suppliers with Asian ones," the minister said.

"At the moment, those decisions that have been made, they concern the suspension of activities, teams are being preserved, wages are being paid in accordance with existing labor laws," Reshetnikov said.

"Therefore, we assume that a significant part of business, reconfiguring these chains, will return to operations in Russia, because our market has not gone anywhere, companies have generated earnings here for a long time, they have had a profitable business in our country, and this gives us reason to hope that the situation will return to normal," Reshetnikov said.