Moscow PR Firms 2026: Leading Russian Public Relations Agencies

By the Everything-PR Editorial Team
Originally published September 2024. Updated October 18, 2026.

Part of EPR's Russia Communications State · PR Firms Directory · Minsk

The largest PR firm in Moscow is AGT Communications Group, Russia's largest PR holding with roughly 330 staff across Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, followed by Mikhailov & Partners and the network affiliate MSL Group Moscow. The 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions that followed have reshaped who operates in the market and under what constraints, so any shortlist needs current verification of each firm and its principals.

The leading PR firms in Moscow at a glance

Firm	Type	Specialty	Scale
AGT Communications Group	Russian holding, founded 1996	Corporate, public affairs, government relations, consumer	~330 staff; PROI Worldwide member
Mikhailov & Partners	Independent, founded 1993	Corporate PR	Founder is Director General of TASS since 2012
MSL Group Moscow	Global network	Strategic communications, media relations, digital	Part of Publicis Groupe
Grape PR	Independent	Media relations, brand management, public affairs	Boutique
PR Partner	Independent	Media relations, corporate communications, events	Full-service
Socius	Independent	PR, corporate communications, crisis management	Multi-vertical
IMAGINE PR	Independent	PR, brand strategy, digital marketing	Boutique

Which are the leading Moscow PR firms?

AGT Communications Group

AGT is the largest PR holding in Russia. Founded in Moscow in 1996, it has about 330 staff across Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan and is the Russian member of PROI Worldwide. It is the default name for large corporate and government-facing mandates.

Mikhailov & Partners

Founded in 1993 by Sergey Vladimirovich Mikhailov, Director General of TASS since 2012, the firm is one of the oldest in the market. Its founder was added to the UK Russia sanctions list on November 28, 2025, which makes sanctions diligence essential for any engagement. Read the Mikhailov & Partners profile.

MSL Group Moscow

The Moscow office of Publicis Groupe's PR network provides strategic communications, media relations and digital engagement across corporate, healthcare and consumer clients. It is one of the few global-network offices still operating in the city.

Grape PR, PR Partner, Socius and IMAGINE PR

These independents fill out the mid-market. Grape PR is known for creative execution across media relations, brand management and public affairs. PR Partner is a full-service agency covering media relations, corporate communications and events. Socius focuses on corporate communications and crisis management across several verticals. IMAGINE PR combines PR with brand strategy and digital marketing.

Which other Moscow firms are worth knowing?

Lions & Tigers. An independent communications agency offering media relations, brand management and digital communications.

BBDO Moscow. Primarily an advertising agency that also runs a PR practice integrating brand communication and media relations.

TASS Communications. The commercial communications arm associated with the TASS news agency, using its parent's editorial and distribution infrastructure.

Rostelecom PR. The corporate communications function of Rostelecom, one of Russia's largest telecom companies. It is an in-house team rather than an agency, but it shapes how a major part of the market buys PR.

What does the Moscow PR market look like after 2022?

The invasion of Ukraine restructured Russian PR. Most Western agencies exited or froze operations, and sanctions on Russia expanded through 2025. MSL Group is one of the few global-network offices still operating in Moscow. Ketchum's earlier Moscow presence, from 2006 to 2015 and anchored by a $26 million engagement and the September 2013 Putin op-ed in The New York Times, ended as Western PR firms broke from Russian state work after the invasion.

Three shifts define the market in 2026. Sanctions keep expanding rather than stabilizing, so firm-level due diligence is now a standing requirement. Most Western holding-company networks remain absent, leaving domestic holdings such as AGT and the surviving Publicis presence to anchor the market's scale. And demand has moved toward domestic and allied-market work in Belarus, Kazakhstan and the wider CIS, away from the Western multinational mandates that defined the pre-2022 market.

How should you vet a Moscow agency?

Neither network affiliation nor independence exempts a firm from sanctions exposure. Designations target individuals and entities directly, as with the November 2025 listing of the Mikhailov & Partners founder. Check the agency's legal entity, owners and named principals against current sanctions lists, repeat the check at each renewal, and ask how fees would be paid, since payment rails with Western currencies have been largely cut off since 2022.

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