(Reuters) – Foreign investors who left Russia after selling their businesses there between March 2022 and March 2023 withdrew about $36 billion from the country, the state RIA news agency reported on Monday, citing analysis of data from the Central Bank.

Scores of the world's biggest companies have left or scaled back their operations in Russia in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Last week, the central bank played down the impact of foreign company exits, saying that around 200 sale deals had been completed in the March 2022-23 period, with just 20% involving large asset sales, those in excess of $100 million.

Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a special military operation, while Kyiv and its West allies call it an unprovoked aggression to grab land.