LONDON, February 3. /TASS/. The sanctions imposed by western states against Moscow complicate the work of foreign businesses in the country, though the interest in the market persists, with companies being ready to expand presence in Russia, Executive Chairman at the British S4 Capital Martin Sorrell, who participated in last week’s closed online meeting with President Vladimir Putin as part of the ‘Davos week’, said in an interview with TASS.
"Sanctions make life more difficult. Free economic trade without any barriers is a stimulus to economic activity. If you have sanctions or tariffs, it does obviously impact," he said.
Sorrell emphasized that S4 Capital is interested in the Russian market, adding though that there are a number of other bottlenecks for business development in Russia that are not related to the sanctions policy of certain countries. "We'd like to expand our business in Russia, we have ongoing conversations with three companies. But our model is based on transparency, we must be totally transparent in our dealings. The Russian advertising market has been a subject to opacity. Clients want a much more transparent model so that they can see clearly where their money goes and to whom," he said, adding that despite certain difficulties his experience of working in Russia when heading WPP "was good."
Speaking about the prospects of western countries removing anti-Russia sanctions, he said that such a scenario is unlikely in the near future. "I wish Western countries and Russia could find a solution on controversial issues. Maybe 20 or 40 years ago there was less emphasis on this sort of issues but economics and profit are no longer the only one determinant," Sorrell said.
Meanwhile the businessman suggests that "a new phase of economic development" is around the corner globally. "We are going to learn to live in a more fragmented world because of rise of populism, inequality, COVID that appears to replace globalization, which has been such a driver of growth in the global economy," he said.
Sorrell, 75, founded S4 Capital in 2018. Previously he built WPP into the world's largest advertising PR group in over 30 years.