Here are the companies pulling back from Russia
A Ford dealership and service center.
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Dozens
of the world's biggest companies have abandoned or scaled back their operations
in Russia in response to its invasion of
Ukraine.
The
exodus affects every corner of the economy, from its vast energy riches through
autos, finance, retail, entertainment and fast food, starving Russia of new
investment and removing products and services that had become popular in the
decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Autos
Ford announced
it was suspending its
operations in Russia. The American automaker has a 50% stake in Ford Sollers, a
joint venture that employs at least 4,000 workers and is shared with Russian
company Sollers.
The company has plants in St. Petersburg, Elabuga and
Naberezhnye Chelny but said it had "significantly wound down" its
Russian operations in recent years. The automaker said it was "deeply
concerned about the situation in Ukraine," and noted it has "a strong
contingent of Ukrainian nationals working at Ford around the world."
General Motors said it was halting
all exports to Russia "until further notice."
GM
doesn't have a significant presence there: It sells only about 3,000 vehicles a
year through 16 dealerships, according to a spokesperson. That's out of the
more than 6 million vehicles the Detroit-based automaker sells annually.
Toyota announced
it would stop making cars in Russia or importing them to the country
"until further notice, due to supply chain disruptions."
Volkswagen is stopping production of vehicles in Russia and
has suspended exports to the Russian market. The decision applies to the
Russian production sites in Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod.
Nissan has
suspended the export of vehicles to Russia, adding that it "anticipates
that production will stop soon at our plant in St. Petersburg."
Boeing said it would suspend support for Russian
airlines.
A
company spokesperson confirmed the aircraft maker 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 company said it has
"suspended support services to Russian airlines, as well as the supply of
spare parts to the country."
Big
Tech
The
tech giant said in a statement that it was "deeply concerned" about
the Russian invasion. In response, the company has also moved 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-parent Meta said it would block access to Russian news
outlets Sputnik and RT, the Russia-backed television network infamous for
promoting Russian President Vladimir Putin's agenda, across the European Union.
The
move comes after the company received "requests from a number of
governments and the EU to take further steps in relation to Russian state
controlled media," Nick Clegg, Meta's VP of global affairs, wrote in a
tweet.
Meta
has also said it has applied algorithmic restrictions on Russian state media
that should prevent those posts from surfacing as prominently in users' feeds.
Twitter has
similarly announced plans to "reduce the visibility and
amplification" of Russian state media content.
Netflix said
it will be suspending its streaming service in Russia.
"Given
the circumstances on the ground, we have decided to suspend our service in
Russia," a Netflix spokesperson told CNN.
No
other details were provided.
Previously,
the company said it was refusing to
air Russian state TV channels — something that the platform
would have been required to do starting this week under Russian law.
"Given
the current situation, we have no plans to add these channels to our
service," the company told CNN Business.
Spotify said it has closed its office in Russia
"indefinitely" and restricted shows "owned and operated by
Russian state-affiliated media." The streaming service removed all content
from RT and Sputnik in Europe and other regions, a company spokesman said.
"We
are deeply shocked and saddened by the unprovoked attack on Ukraine," the
spokesman added. "Our first priority over the past week has been the
safety of our employees and to ensure that Spotify continues to serve as an
important source of global and regional news at a time when access to
information is more important than ever."
Roku, which sells
hardware allowing users to stream content through the internet, has banned RT
worldwide.
YouTube, which is
owned by Google
said it blocked Russian state media within Ukraine, including RT. The video
platform also said it would be "significantly limiting recommendations to
these channels."
Google
and YouTube have also said they will no longer allow Russian state media
outlets to run ads or monetize their content.
Airbnb cofounder and CEO Brian Chesky said in a tweet that
his company was suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus.
Intel has stopped
all shipments to Russia and Belarus, the company announced.
Microsoft said it was suspending all new sales of its
products and services in Russia. President and vice-chair Brad Smith also said
the company is stopping "many aspects" of its business in Russia in
compliance with government sanctions. Microsoft also said it will continue
aiding in Ukrainian
cybersecurity.
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said the
company has suspended all business in Russia.
"In
Ukraine, we have been in constant touch with our local teams and continue to
provide assistance that includes relocation and financial support,"
Krishna said. "The safety and security of IBMers and their families in all
areas impacted by this crisis remains our top priority."
Amazon's cloud
division, Amazon Web Services, said March 8 it would halt new sign-ups for the
service in Russia and Ukraine. The company has already had a
"long-standing policy of not doing business with the Russian
government" and does not have data centers, infrastructure or offices in
Russia, the company said in a blog post.
"AWS
has clear terms of service where if a customer is using AWS services to
threaten, incite, promote, or actively encourage violence, terrorism, or other
serious harm, they will not be permitted to use our services," Amazon
said. "Any customer we know of who is participating in this type of
behavior will have their access to AWS suspended."
Accenture is discontinuing its business in Russia as it "stands
with the people of Ukraine," it said.
The
firm announced the move in a statement on
March 3, where it thanked its "nearly 2,300 colleagues in Russia for their
dedication and service to Accenture over the years."
"We
will be providing support to our Russian colleagues," the company added.
In
a similar move, Deloitte announced
on March 7 that it would stop operating in Russia and Belarus.
"While
we know this is the right decision, it will have an impact on Deloitte's
[approximately] 3,000 professionals located in Russia and Belarus. Like others,
we know our colleagues in Russia and Belarus have no voice in the actions of
their government," the firm said.
"We
will support all impacted colleagues during this transition and do all we can
to assist them during this extremely difficult time."
EY, otherwise known as Ernst & Young, also said it would remove
its Russian practice from its official global network, but allow it to
"continue working with clients as an independent group of audit and
consulting companies."
"EY
in Russia is a team of 4,700 professionals working in 9 cities of the country.
The company has been operating in the Russian market for more than 30
years," it said on
March 7.
Consulting
and accounting firm KPMG International said that its "Russia and Belarus
firms will leave the KPMG network."
"KPMG
has over 4,500 people in Russia and Belarus, and ending our working
relationship with them, many of whom have been a part of KPMG for many decades,
is incredibly difficult," the company said. "This decision is not
about them -- it is a consequence of the actions of the Russian Government. We
are a purpose-led and values-driven organization that believes in doing the
right thing."
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is also planning to break away
from its Russian business.
"As
a result of the Russian government's invasion of Ukraine we have decided that,
under the circumstances, PwC should not have a member firm in Russia and
consequently PwC Russia will leave the network," the "Big Four"
consultancy said in a statement.
"Our
main focus at PwC continues to be doing all we can to help our Ukrainian
colleagues and support the humanitarian efforts," it added.
"We
are also committed to working with our colleagues at PwC Russia to undertake an
orderly transition for the business, and with a focus on the wellbeing of our
3,700 colleagues in PwC Russia."
BP said it was planning to exit its 19.75% stake in Russia's biggest
oil company, Rosneft, and suspending their joint ventures — which amount to one
of the biggest foreign investments in Russia.
Equinor will also begin to exit its joint ventures in Russia, the
Norwegian oil and gas company announced.
"We
are all deeply troubled by the invasion of Ukraine, which represents a terrible
setback for the world," said CEO Anders Opedal.
The
company said it had $1.2 billion in long-term investments in Russia at the end
of 2021. It has operated in Russia for more than 30 years and has a cooperation
agreement with Rosneft.
Exxon pledged
to leave its last remaining oil-and-gas project in Russia and not to invest in
new developments in the country.
The
Sakhalin-1 venture is "one of the largest single international direct
investments in Russia," according to the project's website. An Exxon
subsidiary has a 30% share, while Rosneft also owns a stake.
By
quitting this project, Exxon would end more than a quarter-century of
continuing business presence in Russia.
General Electric suspended
most of its operations in Russia, with the exception of "providing
essential medical equipment and supporting existing power services."
Shell is getting out
of Russia and ditching its joint ventures with Gazprom,
including its involvement with the moribund Nord Stream 2 natural
gas pipeline.
The
UK-based oil company said on February 28 it would dump its stake in a liquified
natural gas facility, its stake in a project to develop fields in western
Siberia and its interest in an exploration project in the Gydan peninsula in
northwestern Siberia.
"We
are shocked by the loss of life in Ukraine, which we deplore, resulting from a
senseless act of military aggression which threatens European security,"
Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said in a statement.
Shell
has also decided to stop buying Russian oil and gas and will close its service
station network.
TotalEnergies also
condemned Russia's actions and said it
would no longer provide capital for new projects in the country.
The
French oil giant has done business in Russia for 25 years, and recently helped
launch a major liquefied natural gas project on the Siberian coast.
Norway's $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund will divest
shares in 47 Russian companies as well as Russian government
bonds, the Norwegian prime minister said.
Mastercard said it was
suspending its network services in Russia. Cards supported by Russian banks
will not work in the company's network, and any cards issued outside of Russia
will not work within the country.
The
credit giant, which has operated in Russia for more than 25 years, had previously announced that
it had "blocked multiple financial institutions" from its network as
a result of anti-Russian sanctions, and would "continue to work with
regulators in the days ahead."
Visa said
it is suspending all of its operations in Russia. It will end all Visa
transactions within its borders, and Visa cards issued in Russia will no longer
work outside of the country. In addition, all Visa cards worldwide "will
no longer work within the Russian Federation," Visa said.
American Express said in a statement 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.
Moody's said it is suspending commercial operations in Russia. Its
investors service will "maintain analytical coverage for existing ratings
from outside Russia."
Media
& entertainment
DirecTV is cutting ties with
RT.
A
spokesperson for the US satellite carrier told CNN Business that it had already
been reviewing whether to renew the outlet's carriage agreement, which was due
to expire later this year. Russia's war on Ukraine sped up its decision,
according to the representative.
Disney is also suspending the
release of its theatrical films in Russia, citing "the unprovoked invasion
of Ukraine."
The
entertainment giant had multiple films set for release in Russia in the coming
months. That includes Marvel's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of
Madness" on May 5 and Pixar's "Lightyear" on June 16.
"We will make future business decisions based on the
evolving situation," a Disney spokesperson said.
WarnerMedia said on
February 28 that it would pause the release of "The Batman" in
Russia.
The
film is one of the biggest blockbusters of the year, and is being released in
most countries by Warner Bros. which, like CNN, is a unit of WarnerMedia.
A
company spokesperson said that the decision was made "in light of the
humanitarian crisis in Ukraine," and that the company hoped "for a
swift and peaceful resolution to this tragedy."
WarnerMedia
is also pausing all new business in Russia, ceasing broadcast of its channels,
halting all new content licensing with Russian entities, and pausing planned
theatrical and games releases.
H&M will pause
all sales in Russia.
In
a statement, the company said that it was "deeply concerned about the
tragic developments in Ukraine, and stands with all the people who are
suffering."
The
clothing giant's stores in Ukraine are already closed due to safety concerns.
H&M
Group, which operates a number of brands, had 168 stores in Russia as of last
November, according to its website.
The
brewer announced on March 9 that it would "take immediate steps to
ring-fence" its Russian business, "to stop the flow of monies,
royalties and dividends" out of the country.
The
beverage giant, which sells into more than 190 countries, had already announced
a suspension on new investments and exports to Russia.
"We
are assessing the strategic options for the future of our Russian
operations," it said in
a statement. "We see a clear distinction between the actions of the
government and our employees in Russia."
Ikea, the world's largest furniture company, is closing its 17
stores in Russia. The company said the conflict is having a "huge human
impact" and is "resulting in serious disruptions to supply chain and
trading conditions." In addition to pausing its retail and manufacturing
operations in Russia, it will suspend all trade with the country and its ally,
Belarus.
Ikea
said 15,000 workers would be directly affected by the shutdown in the region.
The company will continue to pay them, at least for the time being.
Inditex, the parent company of Zara,
said it is pausing operations in Russia and closing 502 stores in the country.
In a statement, the company said Russia accounts for about 8.5% of its earnings
before interest and tax.
"Our
local partner has confirmed that it will be immediately pausing operations in
some 120 stores and online," it said on March 9.
Russia
accounts for around 20% to 25% of sales for the retailer, which specializes in
goods for parents and babies.
German
sports company Puma said
it is suspending operations of all of its stores in Russia. The company said it
operates more than 100 stores in the country.
Luxury
fashion house Prada is
suspending its retail operations in Russia.
Procter & Gamble CEO
Jon Moeller said in a
letter to employees on March 7 that the company has
"discontinued all new capital investments in Russia" and is
"suspending all media, advertising, and promotional activity."
"We
are significantly reducing our product portfolio to focus on basic health,
hygiene and personal care items needed by the many Russian families who depend
on them in their daily lives," Moeller said. "As we proceed with the
reduced scale of our Russian operations, we will continue to adjust as
necessary."
Estée Lauder Companies said March 7 that
it will "suspend all commercial activity in Russia, including closing
every store we own and operate, as well as our brand sites and shipments to any
of our retailers in Russia." The company had already suspended business
investments and initiatives in Russia, it said in a
statement.
Yum Brands, which has
1,000 KFC and Pizza Hut franchises in Russia, said it would suspend all
investment and restaurant development in the country. The company said it would
"assess additional options" and redirect all profits from operations
in Russia to humanitarian efforts.
McDonald's is temporarily closing its Russian restaurants. Eighty-four
percent of McDonald's locations in Russia are operated by the company,
according to the document. Russia's restaurants, along with another 108 in
Ukraine, all operated by McDonald's, accounted for 9% of the company's revenue
in 2021.
Unilever said
it will "continue to supply our everyday essential food and hygiene
products made in Russia to people in the country," adding "we will
keep this under close review." But the company noted it is has suspended
imports of its products to Russia and is stopping all investment in the
country, in addition to stopping exports from there. It said it won't profit
from its presence in Russia.
Shipping
goods
UPS and FedEx have
suspended operations in Russia and Belarus. FedEx said it suspended operations
to "support the people of Ukraine." DHL said
it has suspended inbound shipments to Russia and Belarus.
Maersk and MSC Mediterranean Shipping
Company are both halting cargo
bookings with Russia.
"As
the stability and safety of our operations is already being directly and
indirectly impacted by sanctions, new Maersk bookings to and from Russia will
be temporarily suspended, with exception of foodstuffs, medical and
humanitarian supplies," the Denmark-based company said in a statement.
"We
are deeply concerned by how the crisis keeps escalating in Ukraine," the
company added.
MSC,
a Swiss-owned container shipping line, said its suspension would cover
"all access areas, including Baltics, Black Sea and Far East Russia."
French
train maker Alstom said
that it will "suspend all deliveries towards Russia" in a statement
on March 9.
The
group is also suspending all future business investments in Russia, it added.
Alstom
owns a 20% stake — as a capital investment — in Transmashholding, the Russian
locomotives and rail equipment provider.
"There
was no material business nor operational link between Alstom and TMH," the
company said. "The book value will be re-assessed as part of the fiscal
year 2021/22 closing accounts."


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