MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/. The Russian business is recapturing positions held earlier in the market by foreign multinational companies, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

"The national business, including small and medium companies, is proactively exploring niches on the domestic market, vacated after the exit of certain Western brands. I would like to remind that in early 1990s, and you actually know this better than anybody else, our market was essentially given to foreigners, including multinational companies. Certainly, Russian businessmen objectively were almost unable to compete with them. The time has come to regain positions," Putin said.

"Domestic companies are confidently taking advantage of this opportunity, increasing supplies of their goods and services that are not inferior to and in certain cases are better than foreign counterparts," the head of state added.