Ukraine crisis: Boeing, Apple and Exxon make a retreat from Russia

Boeing suspended maintenance and technical support for Russian airlines and US energy firm Exxon Mobil said it would exit Russia, joining a growing list of Western companies spurning Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Airbus also stopped sending spare parts to Russia and supporting Russian airlines, but said it was analysing whether its Moscow engineering centre could keep providing services to local customers under Western sanctions.

US tech giant Apple said it had stopped sales of iPhones and other products in Russia, while Ford Motor joined other automakers by suspending operations in the country.

Western nations have steadily ratcheted up sanctions on Russia since it invaded Ukraine last week, including shutting out some Russian banks from the SWIFT global financial network.

The measures have hammered the rouble and forced the central bank to jack up interest rates, while Moscow has responded to the growing exodus of Western investors by temporarily restricting Russian asset sales by foreigners. Japan Airlines, and an ANA Holdings unit said they were considering routes that avoid Russia.

With international shippers such as Maersk, Hapag Lloyd and MSC suspending bookings to and from Russia, the country has become increasingly shut out of world commerce. Sanctions are also squeezing Russia’s aviation sector.

Boeing’s said on Tuesday it was suspending operations as other aviation companies face growing European and US  restrictions on dealings with Russia clients, affecting leasing planes, exporting new aircraft and providing parts.

Chorus of condemnation
 

Exxon said it would not invest in new developments in Russia and was taking steps to exit the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas venture, after similar moves to dump assets by Britain’s BP, Russia’s biggest foreign investor, and Shell.

However, French firm TotalEnergies stopped short of saying it would exit Russia, only saying it would not put in new cash.

Apple, which halted sales in Russia, said it was making changes to its Maps app to protect civilians in Ukraine. It also joined a growing chorus of Western companies openly condemning Russian actions.

“We are deeply concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and stand with all of the people who are suffering as a result of the violence,” Apple said.

“We deplore Russia’s military action that violates the territorial integrity of Ukraine and endangers its people,” Exxon said.

Russia’s largest lender out of Europe over sanctions

Europe is winding down and selling units of Sberbank of Russia’s business in the region after regulators said they were likely to fail in the wake of sanctions imposed over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Single Resolution Board, which handles European lenders in trouble, has decided to transfer all shares in the bank’s Croatian and Slovenian subsidiaries to other firms in those countries. The Austrian unit, known as Sberbank Europe AG, will be wound down under local insolvency norms. Bloomberg