On June 9, the AEB held a briefing on the results of the annual survey: "Strategies and Prospects for European Companies in Russia". 

The survey has been conducted by the Association of European Businesses for the eighteenth time. The current wave of the survey was conducted in April-May 2025. 100 companies took part in the survey. This year, the AEB Comprehensive Business Climate Index remained at the 2024 level - 127 points out of 200 possible (in the zone of positive expectations).

At the briefing, Tadzio Schilling, AEB CEO, Rustem Mardanov, Member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia, Yaroslav Lissovolik, Founder of BRICS+ Analytics, and Alexey Dorofeev, CEO of GfK-Rus, discussed the results of the survey and the economic reasons for business sentiment. Rustem Mardanov presented an exclusive analysis comparing the dynamics of the AEB index with the business climate indicator of the Bank of Russia, emphasizing that the main conclusions of the Central Bank and AEB studies coincide. 

This year's AEB survey results revealed that businesses have become less optimistic in their assessments of short-term prospects, but more positive in their medium- and long-term expectations. Expectations for the development of the Russian economy in the long term (6-10 years) have improved significantly - 82% of companies expect growth against 66% in 2024. 62% of surveyed AEB members responded that Russian business is important or very important for their global business. Companies see new opportunities for business development in the Russian market: 50% hope to increase their business's market share, 39% see prospects for business expansion in Russia, 32% - the opportunity to attract new consumer segments.

The survey also provides an assessment of the business environment, business barriers, the impact of sanctions, data on sustainable development strategies in companies, HR issues and the implementation of digital technologies.

The full survey "Strategies and Prospects for European Companies in Russia" is available on the AEB website.