Russia's emerging multinational companies amidst the global economic crisis

Internationalisation of Russian companies has become a distinctive phenomenon and has drawn attention of scholars, practitioners and policy-makers alike. Newly emerged Russian companies have extended their presence from the nearest former Soviet republics to the advanced markets of Western Europe and Northern America. As most companies in the world, in 2008-2010, Russian multinationals faced the global economic meltdown. Despite the broad interest in this topic, its scholarly examination remains limited so far. This is precisely the objective of the paper. It analyses the impact, effects and consequences of the global economic crisis on international activities and internationalisation strategies of emerging Russian multinationals. The study combines quantitative and qualitative methods. Available secondary data from international financial and business databases and reviews is used. To broaden the insight gained through these quantitative analyses, the paper also present qualitative data - several practical examples of Russian multinationals' responses to the crisis. Further, the interplay between foreign expansion and the Russian government's policies is explored. A number of conclusions are derived.