Microsoft is finally leaving Russia. The company's Russian "subsidiary" is preparing for bankruptcy
The American corporation Microsoft has decided to permanently withdraw from the Russian market. Its subsidiary Microsoft Rus is preparing to file for bankruptcy with the Moscow Arbitration Court, The Moscow Times reports .
The company's creditor is one of the largest banks in Russia, Gazprombank.
The reason for the court appeal was a lawsuit by Gazprombank, which in January 2025 demanded that Microsoft Rus return 90.9 million rubles ($1.16 million) as part of a case of unjust enrichment.
The lawsuit concerns a technical support contract concluded in September 2021 and valid until September 12, 2022.
The Russian bank claims that since April 2022, the company has ceased to fulfill its obligations, although it has received full payment.
In April, a Russian court partially upheld the lawsuit and ordered Microsoft to pay about $949,000 in principal and interest. The company must also pay additional interest until the debt is fully repaid.
Microsoft formally began winding down its business in Russia in the spring of 2022 after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. However, it legally remained present in the country until recently.
The latest corporate report, published in March 2025, mentioned the closure of branches in 13 cities in Russia, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, and Krasnodar. At the same time, it was noted that the issue of liquidating the legal entity was not raised.
After the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Microsoft Rus' operating activities have sharply decreased. While in 2021 the company's revenue amounted to 6.9 billion rubles ($88 million), in 2024 it was only 161.6 million ($2.06 million).
At the same time, the company still recorded a net profit of 174.1 million rubles ($2.21 million).
- In March 2022, Nintendo followed Sony and Microsoft in stopping sales of consoles and games in Russia.
- In June of that year, Microsoft said it would scale back its business in Russia until "there's nothing left."
