Research from international ratings agency Moody's shows that the Czech Republic — which boasts just 2.4% of the EU population — is home to over one quarter of the 46,000 or so Russian-linked firms operating in the 27-nation bloc.

Bulgaria, with 9,500 companies, is the second-most favored residence for Russian businesses. Germany, whose economy and population dwarfs those of the top two, comes in third with 4,200.

Russians have long been keen to do business in Czechia. It's a trend that has even thrived despite the dramatic cooling of relations between Moscow and Prague that began in 2021, and has only deepened since the invasion of Ukraine.

Political and business links forged under Communism, linguistic proximity, and loopholes in Czechia's developing regulatory systems have encouraged Russian investors to use the country as a route into EU markets.

Russia's war in Ukraine, meanwhile, has helped spur a rise in the number of Russian entrepreneurs, says Pavel Havlicek, an analyst at Prague's Association for International Affairs. A business project or property purchase is now "the easiest route for Russians to secure a Czech residency permit," he told DW.

Data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade shows there were 4,303 Russian entrepreneurs registered in Czechia in the first quarter of 2022. Two years on, their number had........

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