Companies across the globe continue to suspend services in Russia

Kaan Pinar -

More and more multinational companies are suspending their services in Russia in response to President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Brands like McDonald’s, Shell, and PepsiCo, which had built relationships with the country over decades are now abruptly exiting the country whether due to their own corporate responsibility standards or rising pressure from consumers and investors. The following is a current list of companies that have reduced or severed connections with Russia.

Fossil Fuels

Western sanctions on Russia have mostly excluded the energy sector, where the country is a major player. Russia is the world's third-largest oil producer and second-largest natural gas producer. Despite this, oil and gas firms, which were already under pressure from climate activists to invest in renewable energy, were among the first to announce their exits.

  • BP announced that it would abandon its nearly 20% stake in Russian state-owned oil and gas company Rosneft, a move that would cost the company anywhere between $14 billion and $25 billion.
  • Equinor, Norway’s biggest energy company, is withdrawing from it joint ventures in Russia, valued at about $1.2 billion.
  • ExxonMobil is exiting a key oil and gas project called Sakhalin-1 and is halting all new investments in Russia.
  • Shell is leaving its joint venture with state-owned Gazprom and is ending its involvement with the now-suspended Nord Stream 2 pipeline built to carry natural gas to Western Europe, costing the company $3 billion in assets. The company will also stop buying Russian oil and natural gas and shut down its service stations and operations in Russia.

Auto and Aviation

  • Airbus and Boeing have stopped supplying parts and providing service support for Russian airlines. Boeing temporarily closed its Kyiv office, suspended major operations in Moscow, and halted buying titanium from Russia. According to Reuters, Russian airlines had placed orders for 62 planes from the two manufacturers.
  • Caterpillar is halting Russian manufacturing.
  • Daimler Truck, based in Germany, has halted the supply of truck components to its Russian partner Kamaz.
  • Ferrari is suspending the manufacture of automobiles for the Russian market until further notice.
  • Ford is also suspending operations in Russia and donating money for Ukrainian refugees.
  • Harley-Davidson is halting motorcycle shipments to Russia. During a visit to Ukraine in 2010, Putin famously rode a three-wheeled Harley.
  • Mercedes-Benz has stopped exporting cars and vans to Russia and terminated production in the country.
  • Renault has put its Moscow plant on hold for the time being.
  • Toyota is suspending production at its St. Petersburg plant, which makes RAV4 and Camry models.
  • Volkswagen, which includes auto brands Audi, Ducati, Skoda, and Porsche, is stopping production at two factories in Russia and halting exports to the country. VW claimed that affected Russian employees would be given paid time off.
  • Volvo, based out of Sweden, stopped all new deliveries.

Consumer Goods

  • Adidas, Nike, and Puma have all suspended operations at stores and online in Russia.
  • Airbnb has paused all operations in Russia and its close ally Belarus. Airbnb's nonprofit arm also stated that it would provide free housing to up to 100,000 refugees who have fled Ukraine due to the invasion.
  • Budvar, the Czech brewer, halted beer deliveries to the country and is looking for ways to aid Ukrainian refugees.
  • Disney is pausing the release of its films in Russian theaters.
  • Estée Lauder, the international cosmetics brand, has suspended all commercial activity in Russia, closing down stores, brand sites, and shipments to its retailers.
  • H&M is halting all sales in Russia, and all of its Ukrainian stores have been closed down for safety reasons.
  • Ikea is closing down all of its Russian stores and halting sourcing from Russia and its ally Belarus.
  • Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods maker, closed down around a dozen stores in Russia.
  • Sony suspended all software and hardware shipments and its PlayStation store in the country.
  • Swatch Group, the Swiss watchmaker, has halted retail operations and all exports to the nation.
  • TJX Cos, which owns the U.S. chains Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, and Home Goods, is selling its 25% stake in Russian apparel retailer Familia. The company does not have sales in Russia or Ukraine.
  • Uniqlo, the Japan-based Fast Retailing apparel chain, is temporarily suspending operations in Russia.

Manufacturers

  • Deere & Co suspended all shipments to Russia and Belarus. The company has had operations in Russia since 1973.
  • General Electric is halting all operations in Russia other than providing essential medical equipment and supporting existing power services.
  • Honeywell is halting all business in Russia and Belarus.

Food and Beverage

  • Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Starbucks are all suspending sales in Russia. Pepsi, however, will continue selling dairy products, infant formula, and other essential goods.
  • Little Caesars, the Detroit-based pizza chain, is suspending all operations in Russia which it had begun just over a month ago.
  • McDonald’s is temporarily closing down its 850 restaurants in Russia after facing boycott calls and receiving a plea from a large investor.
  • Nestle, the world’s largest packaged foods group, has suspended all capital investments in the country.
  • Papa John’s, the pizza chain is suspending all corporate operations in Russia. The country’s Papa John's restaurants are owned by independent franchisees and a "master franchisee" who owns and controls all supplies and ingredients.
  • Unilever, the foods and consumer goods conglomerate, has halted business operations in Russia and imports and exports of most products in and out of the country. However, they “will continue to supply our everyday essential food and hygiene products made in Russia to people in the country.”

Finance

  • Deloitte is splitting its work in Russia and Belarus from its global network of member firms, and ceasing operations in both countries.
  • Discover, the bank, has halted all transactions with Russian banks and will not accept anything from Russia that runs on other payment brand networks like Visa or Mastercard.
  • Moody’s, the credit rating firm, is suspending all commercial operations in Russia.
  • PayPal has ceased all services in Russia and is banning new users.
  • Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC)’s Russian branch will leave its network and the company will make sure to have “an orderly transition for the business, with a focus on the wellbeing of our 3,700 colleagues in PwC Russia.”
  • Visa, Mastercard, and American Express have all blocked transactions for Russian banks and are suspending their operations in the country.
  • Western Union, the money-transfer firm, has suspended operations in Russia and Belarus.

Shippers

  • FedEx and UPS have both ceased sending shipments to Russia, but have also announced the suspension of inbound and outbound package deliveries in Ukraine, citing safety concerns for their employees.

Tech

  • Apple will stop the sale of its iPhones and other popular devices in Russia. Apple doesn’t have any official stores in the country but its products are sold through many third-party retailers. The company also ceased Apple Pay systems in the nation and removed Sputnik and RT, Russian government-backed news organizations, from the App Store outside of Russia.
  • Dell has suspended sales in both Russia and Ukraine.
  • Fortinet, the cybersecurity firm, has ceased all operations in the country including sales, support, and professional services.
  • Google has blocked Russian state media channels from its platforms, including the Google Play store. The company has also halted Google Pay for customers of Russian banks hit by the western sanctions.
  • Meta has blocked access to Russian state-controlled outlets across the EU.
  • Microsoft suspended new sales of its products and services in Russia, including its Xbox hardware and games.
  • Netflix has suspended its service in Russia.
  • Nintendo has paused all exports to Russia "for the foreseeable future" and the release of "Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp" on the Switch has been postponed. The company also put its eShop in Russia on hold after its payment provider stopped processing transactions in Russian roubles.
  • Samsung has stopped all shipments to Russia.
  • Spotify is shutting down its office in Russia indefinitely but will continue to offer music and podcast service in the country, excluding Russian state-owned media.
  • Trimble has ceased product sales in Russia and Belarus.
  • TikTok has blocked Russian state-owned media channels from its platform, including RT and Sputnik, and is suspending live streaming and new-content posting in Russia.