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List of companies that have dumped Russia over war with Ukraine

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3 years ago

March 7, 2022

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Here is a countdown of the latest major companies that have closed operations in Russia since it invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Ford was one of the first companies to announce that it was suspending its operations in Russia. The American automaker which has a 50% stake in Ford Sollers, a joint venture that employs at least 4,000 people and is shared with Russian company Sollers, announced its decision to pull out of Russia on Tuesday, March 3rd.

Next came Toyota which announced the same day that it would stop making cars in Russia, or importing them to the country “until further notice, due to supply chain disruptions.”

Volkswagen also released a statement that it was stopping the production of vehicles in Russia and will suspend exports to the Russian market, with immediate effect.

Big players in the aviation industry also announced their pulling out of Russia with Boeing announcing that it would suspend support for Russian airlines.

A company spokesperson confirmed that it was pausing “parts, maintenance and technical support services for Russian airlines,” and had also “suspended major operations in Moscow and temporarily closed our office in Kyiv.

Airbus followed Boeing with a similar move. In a statement, the plane maker said it has “suspended support services to Russian airlines, as well as the supply of spare parts to the country.”

In the tech world, Apple took the first step when it announced that it had stopped selling its products in Russia.

The company said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned” about the Russian invasion and in response, it said it was moving to limit access to digital services such as Apple Pay, inside Russia, and restricted the availability of Russian state media applications outside the country.

Facebook’s parent company Meta also announced that it would block access to Russian news outlets RT and Sputnik across the European Union.

Meta has also said it had applied algorithmic restrictions to Russian state media that should prevent it from surfacing as prominently in users’ feeds.

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Twitter similarly announced plans to “reduce the visibility and amplification” of Russian state media content, while Tiktok and Netflix announced on Sunday that they were suspending their operations in Russia.

“Given the circumstances on the ground, we have decided to suspend our service in Russia,” a Netflix spokesperson said in the statement.

Other big players in the tech industry to close shop in Russia included Spotify, which said it had closed its office in Russia “indefinitely” and restricted shows “owned and operated by Russian state-affiliated media.” The streaming service also removed all content from RT and Sputnik in Europe and other regions.

Others are Roku, a company that sells hardware allowing users to stream content through the internet, and has banned RT worldwide.

YouTube, which is owned by Google, also announced over the weekend it had blocked Russian state media within Ukraine, including RT.

Google and YouTube have also said they will no longer allow Russian state media outlets to run ads or monetize their content.

Airbnb, Intel and Microsoft have also closed operations in Russia on further notice.

On Sunday, British Petroleum (BP) said it was planning to exit its 19.75% stake in Russia’s biggest oil company, Rosneft, and their joint ventures — amounting to one of the biggest foreign investments in Russia.

Shell has also pulled out of Russia, ditching its joint ventures with Gazprom, including its involvement with the moribund Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline.

Norwegian oil and gas giant Equinor has also suspended its joint ventures with Rosneft in Russia, while Exxon is quitting its last Russian project.

By quitting this project, Exxon would end more than a quarter-century of continuing business presence in Russia.

TotalEnergies also condemned Russia’s actions and said it would no longer provide capital for new projects in the country after 25 years.

Mastercard and Visa were the first companies in the finance sector to announce the suspension of their businesses in Russia.

The companies said their cards would no longer be supported by Russian banks and any cards issued outside of Russia will not work within the country.

American Express also said in a statement on Sunday that globally issued American Express cards will no longer work in Russia, and cards issued in Russia won’t work outside the country. The company also said it is ending its business operations in Belarus.

Accounting firm KPMG International, on Sunday, also said that its Russia and Belarus firms will leave the KPMG network as a result of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

DirecTV is also cutting ties with RT, the Russia-backed television network for promoting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s agenda.

Disney is also suspending the release of its theatrical films in Russia, citing “the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.”

Ikea, the world’s largest furniture company, is also closing its 17 stores in Russia. The company said the conflict is having a “huge human impact” and “resulting in serious disruptions to supply chain and trading conditions.”

German sports company, Puma, on Monday, said it was suspending operations of all of its stores in Russia.

Maersk and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company are halting cargo bookings with Russia, while MSC, a Swiss-owned container shipping line, said its own suspension started on Tuesday, and would include “all access areas, including Baltics, Black Sea and Far East Russia.”