"The time has come for asymmetric measures. Let them think about what steps they are taking and what sanctions they are imposing," a source in the Russian government told Reuters, describing the transfer of European companies' Russian assets into temporary management.

Asked which companies might be next and whether the Russian subsidiaries of Italy's UniCredit bank and Austria's Raiffeisen group could be handed over, the source said: "Let them be afraid."

Reuters noted that European businesses have been the main target of the campaign. No large American company has faced similar measures, although some smaller firms have been placed under temporary management.

A source in Russian business circles accused European companies of deliberately holding back the development of their Russian divisions, which ultimately harms the Russian economy. A top manager at one Western company still operating in Russia told journalists that businesses had expected the status quo to hold in the near term.

On September 17, Vladimir Putin signed a law placing the Russian assets of Auchan, Nestle, Lemana PRO (formerly Leroy Merlin) and the logistics operator FM Logistic under temporary management. They were handed to the company L.E.V. Management. As TV Rain noted, the firm was registered in October 2024 with charter capital of 15,000 rubles.

On September 28, Putin transferred the assets of the German retail chain Metro into temporary management; they were received by AO UK Torg RUS. Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said the decrees were not aimed at changing ownership, and that decisions to introduce external management were tied to the fact that the companies come from "unfriendly countries" involved in direct combat operations against Russia.

Peskov said the decisions were reversible, but that there were so far no preconditions for reversibility. According to him, the Kremlin sees no "sound voices in favor of dialogue," which makes it necessary to continue the "special military operation."

Since March 2022, more than a thousand companies have left Russia, selling their operations or transferring management to local managers. Dozens of foreign-owned enterprises have been placed under temporary management by the Russian authorities on the basis of a Putin decree adopted in the spring of 2023.