MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. Moscow has not received any official applications from Western companies on their return to the Russian market as they are waiting for their authorities to give a signal and "testing the waters," Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said when answering a question asked by TASS.
"No one has officially applied yet, only informally testing the waters so to say," Medvedev said. Western brands "will be waiting for their management to give a signal," he added.
Russia did not chase any of the Western companies off, they left themselves, Medvedev said, adding that now it will be challenging for them to return.
The politician recalled that in March 2022 he warned in publications on social networks that it would be difficult for foreign companies to return to the Russian market, irrespective of the "reason for withdrawal."
"Life has proved that those were true words. We did not chase anyone off, they left themselves, someone under pressure from their governments, someone out of fear, someone in solidarity with the neo-Nazis," Medvedev noted.