London CNN —When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a slew of Western companies left in protest. Companies now find themselves caught between Western sanctions and public outrage on the one hand, and an increasingly hostile Russian government on the other. The Kremlin is making it more difficult for Western firms to sell their Russian assets — and imposing steep discounts and punitive taxes when they do. Both companies had been finalizing sales to local buyers when President Vladimir Putin signed an order nationalizing their local assets earlier this month. Spurred by sweeping Western sanctions, oil companies, automakers, technology firms, consultancies and banks led the initial wave of departures.

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Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, Carlsberg, Maria Shagina, Andrey Rudakov, Konstantin Zavrazhin, Hein Schumacher, Schumacher, ”, ” Procter, Gamble, ” Mondelez, Fortum Oyj, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, ” Sonnenfeld, — Olesya Dmitracova Organizations: London CNN, Nestlé, Heineken, Companies, Danone, Carlsberg, Breweries, International Institute for Strategic Studies, CNN, Bloomberg, Getty, Yale University, Yale, Unilever, UL, Procter, Gamble, Treasury, Foreign, Control, Carlsberg — Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Lyubuchany, Rosneft, Moscow, Russian