Global giants which have exited Russia

On February 26th, a US official declared that Russia has become a global economic and financial pariah. Western nations have subjected Russia to a broad range of sanctions that no country of its size has faced in the recent decades.

More than 200 global companies and brands have responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by suspending their business in or with Russia. The list of companies heading for the exit is growing each passing day as sanctions restrict their ability to make payments or trade with Russia. This will no doubt lead to tens of thousands of job losses in Russia.

While a lot of these companies don’t want to run afoul of Western sanctions, the corporate exodus is also led by public backlash. Companies are abandoning Russia by incurring high costs as they evaluate the potential damage to their reputations if they continue to do business in the country. 

UK energy major BP is abandoning its 20% stake in Russia’s state-controlled Rosneft at a cost $25 billion whereas ExxonMobil is leaving a large oil and gas project in which India’s ONGC Videsh is also a joint venture partner. Shell is withdrawing from Russian oil and gas. It is stopping Russian crude oil purchases and shutting its service station. It has also apologised for buying Russian oil last week.

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Card networks Visa, MasterCard and American Express suspended their global services in Russia. This means cards issued in Russia would no longer work outside the country and cards issued abroad will not work in Russia.

Big four accounting and consultancy firms KPMG, PwC, Deloitte and EY along with Grant Thornton have severed their ties with Russian member firms. While Accenture laid off its entire Russian workforce, McKinsey and BCG are suspending new client work in Russia. 

Tiktok and Netflix have shut their Russian operations while major Hollywood studios have halted the release of movies there.  

Leading retailers like Zara, H&M, Levi’s and IKEA have too closed their stores and suspended sales in Russia. 

Smartphone makers Apple and Samsung, computer hardware companies HP and Dell have suspended all shipments to Russia. 

Among large tech companies, Microsoft, SAP and Adobe stopped sales of their new products and services in Russia while Oracle suspended its operations there.

The world’s two biggest plane makers, Boeing and Airbus, have halted the supply of aircraft parts and services to Russian airlines. Boeing also suspended buying titanium from Russia, which is the world’s largest supplier of the metal.

Two of the world’s largest logistics companies, FedEx and UPS, have also halted delivery service to the country, while the world's three biggest container lines MSC, Maersk and CMA CGM suspended cargo shipments to and from Russia.

Even as hundreds of brands exit Russia in hurry, some with significant exposure to the country continue to operate there. These include PepsiCo, KFC, Starbucks, Burger King, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Philip Morris and Accor Group. But with escalating pressure, this may not last soon. 

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