Number of new companies in Russia drops significantly

The number of newly registered companies in Russia fell dramatically in 2025: only 173,000 legal entities were registered during the year, 20 per cent fewer than a year earlier.

Source: The Moscow Times

Details: This is the lowest figure in 14 years, as data from the audit and consulting network FinExpertiza indicate.

The number of new companies declined in 60 regions, including Moscow, St Petersburg and Sverdlovsk oblasts.

In the meantime, the number of liquidated companies rose by 15% to 233,000. As a result, closures exceeded new registrations by 26%.

Most of the companies (88%) were removed from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. More than half of them – 110,000 – showed signs of being shell companies, such as mass-registration addresses, nominal directors and sham transactions.

The rest of the closures were due to voluntary liquidation by owners and the removal of inactive firms that had failed to file reports or carry out transactions on their accounts.

A total of 13% of closures occurred under simplified procedures, with companies struck off the register due to a lack of funds for full bankruptcy proceedings.

Background: Sanctions, the loss of foreign markets and a deteriorating global environment have exposed the structural weakness of Russia's regional budgets, which are no longer able to meet even basic obligations.

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