McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and the great corporate exodus. List of companies leaving Russia
As Russia’s war against Ukraine rages on, the big multinationals are halting their operations in Russia.
The Russian economy is now under severe pressure. Economic sanctions, a radical drop in business activity, and a loss of revenues for national energy companies Gazprom and Rosneft are pushing it to deep crisis.
Any business planning in the Russian economic environment is fraught with uncertainty and high risks at the best of times, but now Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine has to be taken into account as. With the onset of Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine, big multinational corporations across all sectors and industries are now leaving the Russian market.
Here is a list of such companies.
Energy
BP, a British oil company, has announced the sale of the 19.75%-stake it had in Rosneft. As the biggest oil company in Russia, Rosneft once was popular among risk-takers at the London Stock Exchange.
Not anymore.
Norwegian oil and gas group Equinor said it would exit from all of its projects in Russia, which were based on cooperation with Rosneft.
Exxon Mobil, an American energy giant, has begun recalling its staff from Russia. As of 2021, it had more than 1,000 employees working there.
Shell, a London-based energy multinational, announced its withdrawal from the Russian oil and gas sector. It is exiting all of its mutual projects with Gazprom. This includes a 27.5%-stake in an LNG project on Sakhalin island in Russia’s Far East, a 2.5%-stake in Salym Petroleum Development, and a joint venture with Gazpromneft – Gidan Energy. Moreover, Shell is halting its participation in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, built for the purpose of bypassing the Ukrainian gas transportation system to deliver Russian gas to the EU market. Petrol stations owned by Shell in Russia will be closed.
Finnish energy company Fortum has stopped all the new investment projects in Russia until “further announcements,” in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
FMCG
Finnish dairy producer Valio and coffee maker Paulig have halted their businesses in Russia.
Procter & Gamble, the world’s major consumer company, which includes a number of brands for personal hygiene, announced a “substantial” reduction in the sale of its products in Russia. The company is also stopping all investments, advertising and marketing activity there.
Unilever, another huge consumer business, will stop all importing and exporting activity with its Russian counterparts, but will continue supplies of products made by local production facilities to Russian consumers.
French cosmetics and personal care producer L’Oreal is shutting down its retail outlets in Russia, and halting its investment in production and advertising. L’Oreal is well known for its popular brand portfolio: Garnier, Maybelline New York, Lancome, and Vichy.
PepsiCo and Coca-Cola both made a statement on March 8 about halting their Russian business operations.
Heineken, a Dutch beer company, is halting the brewing of all of its brands in Russia. Earlier, Heineken stopped exporting beer to Russia.
HoReCa
McDonald’s, which employs 62,000 people in the Russian labor market, is to close down almost 850 restaurants in Russia.
The owners of the Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Russian franchise will stop all investments in Russia.
Starbucks, a U.S. chain of coffee shops, announced that it is exiting the Russian market.
Fashion and Retail
Swarovski, Austrian Jewelry producer and a major supplier of synthetic crystals for the industry, has halted its sales in Russia.
French fashion house Hermes is closing its retail outlets in Russia, effective March 5.
H&M, the Swedish clothing company, announced a temporary ban on sales in Russia.
Ikea, another Swedish company and a DIY-furniture producer, has closed all of its outlets in Russian shopping malls for at least three months. It has also stopped all cooperation with Belarussian suppliers.
Danish furniture maker Jysk closed 13 retail outlets in the Russian Federation.
Another Danish company Lego, a major producer of toys for kids, has stopped supplying its products to Russia.
British retailer Marks & Spencer also stopped supplying its clothing to Russia.
Inditex, a Spanish fashion retailer (with a portfolio including Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, and Oysho) has temporarily shut its 500+ outlets in Russia.
Kering, French luxury group, shuts all its fashion salons in Russia. This group is known for brands such as Gucci, Balenciaga, and Yves Saint Laurent.
Cartier, another French company and a producer of elite jewelry, announced a halt to all of its commercial activities in Russia.
Swatch Group AG, the maker of Breguet, Longines, Tissot and Omega watches, will not be supplying any new products to Russia.
eBay, the digital platform for shopping, has stopped deliveries to Russia, effective March 3.
Puma, a producer of clothing for both professional and amateur sports, announced it will stop its work in Russia. Moreover, the company is exiting its contract with the Russian Football Federation and will not be supplying products to its branded shops in Russia.
Besides that, Puma made a commitment to all of its employees in Ukraine, including their families, to help in relocating to the western part of the country.
LVMH group of companies, which sold luxury products worth up to EUR 64.2 billion in 2021, will temporarily shut down its retail outlets in Russia. Having a vast portfolio of brands, LVMG produces the Hublot watches that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin regularly wears.
Chanel, a legend of the fashion world, is following LVMH in leaving Russia as well.
PVH Corp, a U.S. producer of clothing under brands popular with Millennials –Tommy Hilfiger, Abercrombie & Fitch – is halting its sales in Russia. The company also sells clothing under Calvin Klein brand.
Levi Strauss, a fashion retailer headquartered in San Francisco, is shutting down its commercial activities in Russia, including all investments.
OBI, a retail chain for building materials and equipment with outlets across Eastern Europe, announced it would halt its business in Russia.
Adidas, a German sports clothing producer, announced it would close all of its outlets in Russia, but has not yet said that it is exiting the Russian market completely.
Estee Lauder, a U.S. cosmetics and perfume producer, is shutting down its commercial operations in Russia. Its fashion brand DKNY is extremely popular in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
British retailer Mothercares, which focuses on childcare products, is stopping its business in Russia, including any new supplies.
Technology
South-Korean technology giant Samsung announced it will shut down all supplies to Russia, saying Russia’s war against Ukraine is a reason.
Apple Inc. restricted a number of services available to Russians, which includes access to Apple Pay.
Microsoft, another U.S. tech giant, is also adding substantial restrictions to services for Russians.
Japanese company Panasonic stopped all of its supplies to Russia.
Chipmakers AMD and Intel have halted all exports to Russia.
Ukrainian technology company Grammarly, which provides a subscription-based service for translations, will cut availability of its products to users in Russia and Belarus.
Google (within the Alphabet Group) restricted sales of its online ad services in Russia, which includes a total halt of some them. Moreover, its key product – the Google search engine – will also become subject to restrictions.
Alphabet’s video platform – YouTube – will be restricted as well.
EPAM, a technology company with numerous offices in Eastern Europe, will stop servicing its Russian customers.
Swedish entertainment service Spotify has closed down its office in Russia for now.
U.S. computer hardware maker Dell has temporarily banned all sales in Russia.
Another tech company from the U.S. – Cisco Systems, which focuses on digital infrastructure – has stopped its business operations in Russia and Belarus.
Swedish telecom giant Ericsson has shut down supplies for mobile networks in Russia.
Finnish technology company Nokia has stopped supplies of telecom hardware as well.
Germany’s Siemens, which produces a broad range of products, including TVsets and washing machines, has announced that it will stop supplies to Russia. It also put broad restrictions on servicing Russian consumers.
Software developing company Oracle Corp. has stopped its business operations in Russia.
German major technology company SAP has done so as well.
Software developing company Luxoft is exiting the Russian market and made a commitment to provide a UAH 10 million donation to the Red Cross mission in Ukraine. Luxoft employs approximately 4,000 individuals in Ukraine.
Japan’s Hitachi, a tech holding, is halting all exports to Russia. Hitachi is in the process of acquiring Global Logic, another tech company present throughout Eastern Europe.
Software developer Terrasoft is cancelling its existing contracts with customers in Russia and Belarus.
Adobe, a major provider of technology services, including its ecosystem of digital documents, has stopped its sales in Russia. Prepaid subscriptions will stay valid, but with no renewal option.
Microchip producer Nvidia is halting all exports to Russia.
IBM, the computer hardware and microchip producer, is halting its business operations in Russia.
Depositphotos, an online photo stock owned by VistaPrint, will shut its services for Russian customers.
Amazon Web Services, a major provider of cloud services, is halting business operations in Russia and Belarus.
Consultancies
Accenture, a tech consultancy, will stop its business operations in Russia, where it employs 2,300 people.
McKinsey, a provider of consulting services, is halting its operations in Russia. It had an office in Moscow and was known for publishing reports for audit professionals.
Its peer BCG is doing the same.
KPMG consultancy announced it will stop operating in Russia and Belarus.
PwC consultancy will do the same.
Another major consultancy, EY, announced a restructuring of its Russian subsidiary to make it a separate entity. It will not provide services to any Russian state agencies, state-owned companies or entities/private individuals that have been sanctioned.
Deloitte consultancy announced a major change in its business activities in Russia.
Fitch Group, a credit rating agency, announced a halt to its commercial activities in Russia. This includes providing creditworthiness assessments and other services by Fitch Ratings and Fitch Solutions.
Colliers, a real estate consultancy, is exiting the Russian market.
CBRE, a real estate consultancy and investment company, is restricting its business operations in Russia.
Media and Entertainment
U.S. entertainment giants Paramount, The Walt Disney Company, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. cancelled all new products for the Russian market. Sony Pictures did so also.
New York Times newspaper helped its editorial staff leave its newsroom in Moscow and travel to the United States.
Coursera, a platform for online education, will not be accepting any video courses from Russian citizens.
Universal Music Group will stop its business activities in Russia.
Conde Nast publishing house, which owns globally known media brands such as The New Yorker magazine, will stop producing Vogue and GQ magazines in Russia.
Automotive Sector
Audi, General Motors, Harley Davidson, Jaguar, Land Rover, Scania, Skoda and Porsche are halting exports to Russia.
Japanese automobile producer Honda is stopping sales in Russia.
BMW Group, Fond, Hyundai, MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Volkswagen, and Volvo Group are freezing manufacturing operations in Russia.
Daimler Truck is halting its commercial cooperation with Kamaz, a Russian truck producer.
Nissan is preparing to halt its manufacturing in Russia and has stopped exporting there.
Ferrari stopped supplying new automobiles for the Russian market.
Online Services
Booking.com and AirBnB, online accommodation rental services, have stopped their operations in Russia.
Upwork, a platform for hiring software developers, has stopped its work in Russia and Belarus. Existing contracts will be terminated on May 1, 2022.
Travel and Logistics
Boeing and Airbus will not provide technical services for Russian companies.
Logistics companies DHL, FedEx and UPS will stop providing their services to Russian customers.
Financial Services
Major financial service providers Visa and Mastercard announced they will substantially restrict their business operations in Russia.
PayPal will not be registering any Russian citizens as users, effective March 3.
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