WASHINGTON—Russia is taking advantage of opaque corporate-registration laws, permissive tax environments and uneven anticorruption practices to expand its economic footprint in certain Western Europe nations, according to a report to be released Monday.

The report by the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank describes three countries—Austria, Italy and the Netherlands—as “enablers” whose financial and political systems have unwittingly or wittingly allowed the Kremlin to flex its economic and political muscles.

Russian investment in Austria nearly doubled since the 2014 crisis over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea, which precipitated U.S. and European Union sanctions against Moscow. The investment accounted for more than 16% of foreign direct investment in Austria in 2017, compared with about 8% in 2013, the report says.

In Italy, the report says, economic ties with Russia have grown as Italian governance standards stagnated and some leading political parties share the Kremlin’s anti-immigrant views and skepticism of the European Union.

Russian companies have made strategic investments in Italian energy, telecommunications and real estate businesses, and Italian banks are second only to Switzerland’s in financial exposure to Russia, with claims worth almost $23 billion, according to the report.