Abstract. The article presents the results of a survey of the heads of structural divisions of large German companies operating in Russia – on the outcome of their activity in 2016 and expectations for 2017. In general, German top managers indicate the improvement (or stagnation) of the business climate in 2016 and express cautious optimism about 2017. They define the state of their business in Russia mainly as satisfactory. The paper also presents data on the main problems of the Russian market, the most promising sectors and regions.