What risks the Romanian business environment is exposed to in trade relations with Russian companies

   The introduction of successive packages of economic sanctions against Russia is prompting some Russian-registered companies or Russian businessmen to find ways to avoid the embargo in order to continue their activities or even to survive.

   According to an analysis by the Corporate Intelligence Agency, a risk management company, Russian firms have stepped up efforts to find ways to continue doing business by relocating operations to jurisdictions where they can do so without fear of sanctions or being blocked from access to money.

   In recent weeks, money transfers, cryptocurrency transfers and real estate purchases have been identified in Turkey, the UAE and other countries or jurisdictions that have taken a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine, which will make due diligence procedures already in place in EU companies more difficult.

   "According to our information, since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, more than 400 companies have been established in a single Romanian county located in the border area or in economically relevant areas, most of them with Ukrainian citizens as shareholders. At the same time, the shareholders transferred large sums of money to accounts opened in the names of these companies. Given the ease with which a commercial company can be set up today, we believe that these may include companies in which the founders appear by name, but the real beneficiaries may be citizens of Russian origin on the sanctions lists," says Gabriel Zgunea, CEO of the Corporate Intelligence Agency, warning that this phenomenon will spread in the coming period. "Knowing the approach of local companies regarding <> or <> procedures, we are sure that situations will arise in which Romanian companies, without intention, will end up conducting business operations with entities in which the UBO (ultimate beneficiary owner) may be citizens or companies from the Russian Federation".