This article discusses the changes in Russia's economic relations with Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic that took place since the world financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009. The author compares reactions of the trade and investment relations to main external challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Russia and the Visegrad Group countries are losing their importance for each other as partners due to repeated internal and external crises and short periods of recovery processes. A pronounced asymmetry of relations in the trade sector remains, although external challenges have led to a number of changes in the sectoral structure of trade. Investment cooperation is still small and strongly influenced by negative economic and political factors. Sectoral structure of mutual FDI is assessed. Dynamics of political dialogue allow us to say that the exacerbation of contradictions in this area narrows the opportunities for the development of economic relations, where the potential for growth remains due to objective economic factors.