Mastercard Inc., McDonald’s Corp, Paypal Holdings Inc and Coca-Cola Co. are some of the big names that suspended their business with Russia in the wake of the country’s invasion in Ukraine.
With Ukraine under attack, Russia came under international sanctions, closure of airspace and transport links and financial restrictions on SWIFT and capital controls. All these made it difficult to deliver goods and make payments, which had prompted to bring in restrictions along with thought of a backlash of consumers against companies who continue trade with Russia.
OIL AND GAS
BP Ple, which is Russia’s largest foreign investor, on February 27 announced that it would exit its 20 per cent stake in state-controlled Rosnefto. This could result in a 25 billion dollar write-off and cut the company’s global oil and gas production by a third.
Norwegian Oil Company Equinor has announced its exit from the joint ventures in Russia. The company said that it had 1.2 billion dollar 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 also leaves the Russia and has decided not to invest in new developments. The Sakhalin-1 venture is one of its largest single international direct investments in Russia. Exxon would end more than a quarter-century of continuing business presence in Russia.
Energy Companies such as General Electric (GE) and Shell have also decided to withdraw from Russia. Shell said that 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. It also decided to stop buying Russian oil and gas and will close its service station network.
AUTOMOBILES
Ford proclaimed that it was suspending its operations in Russia. The American auto giants has a 50 per cent stake in Ford Sollers, a joint venture with Russian company Sollers. Expressing deep concern over the Russian invasion, the company officials said that it has a strong contingent of Ukrainian nationals working at Ford around the world.
General Motors noted that it was suspending all exports to Russia “until further notice.” Other Auto giants Toyota , Volkswagen and Nissan have suspended the export of vehicles to Russia.
AVIATION
Boeing (BA) suspended “parts, maintenance and technical support services for Russian airlines“. They said that it suspended major operations in Moscow and temporarily closed the office in Kyiv.
Airbus also suspended support services to Russian airlines, as well as the supply of spare parts.
TECHNICAL COMPANIES
Apple said that it has stopped selling its products in Russia. It 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, which are infamous for promoting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s agenda, across the European Union. 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.
Similarly, Twitter also announced plans to reduce the visibility and amplification of Russian state media content.
Spotify has closed its office in Russia. Meanwhile, YouTube blocked Russian state media within Ukraine, including RT. Google and YouTube also banned Russian state media outlets to run ads or monetize their content.
When Intel stopped all shipments to Russia and Belarus, Microsoft said it was suspending all new sales of its products and services in Russia. In line is IBM. Amazon said it would halt new sign-ups for Amazon Web Services in Russia and Ukraine.
ECONOMY
Mastercard has suspended its activities in Russia. It said that 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 company has been in Russia for almost 25 years.
Visa also suspended its operation in the country. 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.
American Express said that American Express cards will no longer work in Russia, and cards issued in Russia won’t work outside the country.
SHIPPING
Shipping Companies such as UPS. FedEx, DHL, Maersk and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company said that they are suspending operations in Russia.
