Based on the view that re-engineering and upgrading the institutional environment in previous command economies offer an important new frontier for boosting new venture creation and entrepreneurial internationalization, Laine and Kuivalainen examine and address institutional constraints to the internationalization of new ventures in Russia. It draws on 213 interviews with entrepreneurs and government officials, specifically regarding their perceptions and experiences of the impact of Russian institutional environment on entrepreneurial growth and internationalization. The study illuminates and discusses critical impediments to the growth and internationalization of new Russian ventures, providing practice-based insights on how the internationalization of entrepreneurial ventures might be facilitated through improvements in the institutional environment.