India can fill void left by Western firms in Russia: Roscongress CEO

Roscongress Foundation CEO Alexander Stuglev expressed optimism for Indian companies to replace Western firms that exited Russia, highlighting sectors like IT, pharma, and auto as key areas for growth at the India-Russia Business Forum.

'Very Optimistic' on Indian Firms Replacing Western Companies

India can certainly expand its footprint in the Russian market by stepping into businesses and sectors left open after the exit of some of the Western firms in the recent past, Roscongress Foundation CEO Alexander Stuglev said, expressing optimism in India's ability to fill that space. "Certainly, I do believe that Indian companies may be able to successfully replace (the space) that was made vacant by the Western companies who have left. (I am) very optimistic," the CEO of Roscongress told ANI in an interaction, during the ongoing two-day State Visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India.

Reportedly, following the Russia-Ukraine conflict, several Western companies have either exited or scaled back operations in Russia. Roscongress Foundation is also the organiser of the India-Russia Business Forum being held at Bharat Mandapam.

Speaking about India-Russia ties, Stuglev further told ANI that Indian businesses are already making visible gains in Russia and have the potential to scale up further. "I am definitely very optimistic on the matter of the potential of Indian companies in Russia and today during the business forum, we heard a whole number of success stories of Indian companies in Russia," he said, speaking in Russian, which an interpreter was simultaneously interpreting. "There is definitely big potential. We just need to join our efforts to ensure great informational openness and awareness between these two countries so that those opportunities are taken advantage of by our businessmen," the Roscongress CEO added.

Identifying Key Growth Sectors

In his interaction with ANI, Stuglev outlined a broad set of sectors where India and Russia are already collaborating and where opportunities continue to expand, particularly for India in terms of exports. "Those sectors are indeed very broad ranging. That's the pharmaceutical industry, IT, AI, cyber security, financial systems solutions and technologies, agriculture, agricultural and industrial sector, transportation and logistics, energy sector, and of course tourism," he said, describing them as "sectors where we have cooperation already, but there is even bigger potential for growth." He also put the automotive industry in the spotlight, terming it one of the key drivers.

Facilitating Trade and Bilateral Ties

As part of efforts to widen market access, he noted that Russian e-commerce platforms were showcased at the Business Forum at Bharat Mandapam, which can help smaller Indian businesses reach Russian consumers. "We are interested in facilitating trade, not just between big enterprises. That is why, specifically during this Forum, we had a presentation of the largest Russian marketplaces and e-commerce platforms that enable small and medium-sized Indian enterprises (to market) their products to Russian consumers," he said.

Alexander Stuglev, in his brief interaction, also said Russia would continue to hold regular events to strengthen bilateral business ties. "We certainly organise an annual Russia-India Forum here in India to keep everyone up to date, to identify potential barriers and work together to eliminate them." Alongside this, he highlighted a series of sector-specific and global events hosted in Russia that Indian companies are encouraged to participate in. Inviting Indian firms to engage more deeply, Stuglev concluded that, "We will be happy to help you find reliable partners in Russia and develop business there."

Aiming for $100 Billion in Balanced Trade by 2030

Russia and India are steadily raising their economic cooperation to a new level as a result of closer ties at the highest level and mutual business interests, Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Reshetnikov said at the India-Russia Business Forum yesterday. "The joint goal now is to diversify and balance trade. This is an essential condition for achieving the goal set by the leaders of our countries: USD 100 billion by 2030," Reshetnikov said.

Russia has proposed to improve the trade balance by increasing imports of Indian pharmaceutical products, food, chemicals, equipment, auto parts, textiles, and electronics. Reshetnikov also expressed confidence that the negotiations on a free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and India, which began last week, will provide an impetus to this work.

More than 300 companies from Russia and India are taking part in the India-Russia Business Forum. The agenda includes sessions on mechanical engineering, pharmaceuticals, digital technologies, agriculture, and financial instruments to support joint projects.

Bilateral trade has grown rapidly and reached a record USD 68.7 billion in 2024-25, with Indian exports at USD 4.9 billion (mainly pharmaceuticals, chemicals, iron and steel, and marine products) and imports from Russia at USD 63.8 billion (primarily crude oil and petroleum products, sunflower oil, fertilisers, coking coal, and precious stones/metals), as per latest Indian government data. The leaders of the two countries have set the goal of increasing mutual trade turnover to USD 100 billion by 2030 by making it more balanced and diversified. (ANI)

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