After months of negotiations, Finland's Nokian Tyres was on the cusp late last year of finalizing a €400 million ($440.32 million) sale of its Russian business. Then Moscow changed the rules again.
The government in December demanded that companies leaving Russia sell their operations for at least half price and claimed 10% of the sale for the federal budget, termed an "exit tax" by the U.S. Treasury.
Nokian Tyres dropped the agreed sale price to Russian oil major Tatneft to €286 million, finally securing the approval of the government commission that monitors foreign investment in March — nine months after initiating its "controlled exit."