The study, which was attended by 115 CEOs of companies from all major industries with an annual turnover of more than 1 billion rubles, showed the uneven impact of the current situation on different industries. Representatives of the banking, IT and telecommunications sectors, as well as retail and e-commerce are the most optimistic about the state of their companies. At the same time, 36% of the representatives of the extractive and manufacturing industries reported a deterioration of the situation.
At the same time, looking to the near future, more than 75% of the managers surveyed expressed confidence in improving or maintaining the current state in the next six months. The most positive were the representatives of the banking industry, IT and telecommunications. Representatives of energy and metallurgy give a more negative forecast.
“Our data speaks of the recovery of some industries after the events of this spring, and also reflects some negative expectations of the extractive industries in relation to a possible decrease in productive activity around the world,” said Elena Kuznetsova, a partner at Yakov. & Partners and co-author of the report. At the same time, Kuznetsova adds, Russian companies have successfully weathered the initial shock and are optimistic about the future.
Among the main challenges, most of the study participants mentioned the bans on foreign trade and the prospects of expanding sanctions: they were indicated by 63% of the respondents. To a lesser extent, businessmen are concerned about declining purchasing power within the country, inflation, and climate change.
As Vlada Bogdanova, head of the Yakov & Partners analytical center, explained, 2022 is characterized by a sharp change in the approach of company leaders to issues related to the ability to conduct foreign trade relations, as well as attract qualified personnel. At the same time, issues that have been high on the public agenda in recent years, such as COVID-19 or conditions for small and medium-sized businesses, remain significant for less than 5% of respondents.
“We can expect that in the near future we will see significant efforts by large Russian companies to diversify international relations,” Bogdanova concluded.
It is also observed that entrepreneurs have not lost their appetite for investment and business development, despite the fact that reducing costs and adapting supply chains were a priority for more than a third of those surveyed. Among the priorities for the next six months, many company executives mentioned growth in the production of products and services, entering new geographic markets and launching new investment projects.
The survey involved 115 CEOs of companies in all major sectors of the Russian economy with an annual turnover of more than 1 billion rubles.
