NewsNation

List of companies halting business in Russia continues to grow

(NewsNation Now) — Some of the world’s largest companies have decided Russia is no longer a place they want to do business, at least for now.

IKEA has temporarily closed all retail locations, Disney has halted all movie releases and Harley-Davidson has stopped sending bikes to Russia — all in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.


How long each pause lasts remains to be seen. Disney said future business decisions in Russia will be “based on the evolving situation.”

Other moves, such as British Petroleum’s decision to exit its nearly 20% stake in Rosneft, a Russian state-controlled oil and gas company, will end business ties altogether.

Here are some of the major companies that have announced changes to their business operations in Russia.

AEROSPACE

Airbus — The European aerospace company has halted the supply of aircraft parts and services to Russian airlines, according to AP.

Boeing — The American company has stopped supplying parts and service support for Russian carriers. It also suspended major operations in Moscow and temporarily closed its office in Kyiv, AP reports.

AIRLINES

Delta Air Lines — Delta Air Lines has suspended its codesharing partnership with Russian national airline Aeroflot. The partnership allowed customers to book seats through one airline onto another’s flights. Delta has also halted flights over Russian airspace, Reuters reported.

United Airlines — On Tuesday, the airline said it has temporarily suspended flights over Russian airspace, according to Reuters.

AUTOMAKERS

Daimler Truck — One of the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturers said it will freeze all business activities in Russia, according to Reuters. That includes halting a joint partnership with Kamaz, a Russian truck maker.

Ford Motor Company — On Tuesday, the American automaker announced it is suspending operations in Russia, effective immediately.

General Motors — GM has suspended all vehicle exports to Russia until further notice, a spokesperson confirmed Wednesday.

Harley-Davidson — The Milwaukee-based motorcycle manufacturer has suspended its business in Russia, including all shipments of bikes to the country, a company spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.

Jaguar Land Rover — The British car manufacturer said it has paused car deliveries to Russia due to “trading challenges,” the BBC reports.

Mercedes-Benz — The luxury German automaker has suspended all exports to Russia and all manufacturing in the country, AP reports.

Volkswagen — The German car company has stopped the production of vehicles in Russia until further notice, according to a statement Thursday. All vehicle exports to Russia have also been stopped, the company said.

Volvo The Swedish car manufacturer said it will suspend car shipments to the Russian market until further notice, Reuters reports. The decision, announced Monday, made Volvo the first international carmaker to suspend shipments in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

ENERGY

British Petroleum — BP is exiting its share in Rosneft, a Russian state-controlled oil and gas company, the company announced Sunday. BP has held a 19.75% stake in Rosneft since 2013. That stake is currently valued at $14 billion.

Equinor — The Norwegian state-owned energy company announced it will stop new investments in Russia and start the process of exiting its current joint ventures in the country. The company said it had $1.2 billion in “non-current assets” in Russia at the end of 2021.

ExxonMobil — The Texas-based oil company will discontinue operations at its Sakhalin-1 project in Russia, the company announced Tuesday. The oil giant said it will not invest in new developments in Russia moving forward. The decision comes shortly after Shell and BP made similar announcements.

General Electric —  General Electric also said in a Twitter post that it was partially suspending its operations in Russia. GE said two exceptions would be essential medical equipment and support for existing power services in Russia.

Shell — On Monday, the oil company announced it would end all joint ventures with Gazprom, a Russian majority-state-owned energy company. Shell also intends to end its involvement in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.

ENTERTAINMENT

Sony Pictures — The company said it would pause the release of its films and would stop shipments of its PlayStation gaming unit and operations in Russia. “Sony Interactive Entertainment joins the global community in calling for peace in Ukraine,” it said.

Walt Disney Co. — Disney is pausing the release of theatrical films in Russia, the company said in a statement. The studio had previously planned to open the Pixar film “Turning Red” in Russia on March 10. 

Warner Bros. — Warner Bros. announced it is halting the release of “The Batman” in Russia. The move comes just days before the film was set to open in theaters there.

FINANCIAL

Goldman Sachs — Goldman Sachs Group Inc said it was closing its operations in Russia, becoming the first major Wall Street bank to exit the country following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mastercard — Mastercard said cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by its network and any card issued outside the country will not work at Russian stores or ATMs.

Visa — Visa said it’s working with clients and partners in Russia to cease all Visa transactions over the coming days.

FOOD & DRINK

Burger King — Burger King said it is redirecting the profits from its 800 Russian stores to relief efforts and donating $2 million in food vouchers to Ukrainian refugees.

Coca-Cola — Coca-Cola Co. announced it was suspending its business in Russia, but it offered few details. Coke’s partner, Switzerland-based Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co., owns 10 bottling plants in Russia, which is its largest market. Coke has a 21% stake in Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co.

Diageo — The spirits company, which makes Smirnoff vodka and Guinness beer, has paused exports to Russia and Ukraine, according to Reuters.

Kroger — National grocery chain Kroger has pulled Russian-produced vodka from its shelves in support of Ukraine. The vodka was removed from shelves over the weekend, Kroger said Tuesday. The chain has nearly 2,800 stores in 35 states.

McDonald’s — McDonald’s said it is temporarily closing all of its 850 restaurants in Russia, a highly symbolic move for the U.S. chain that was among the first to enter the former Soviet Union three decades ago. The burger giant said it will continue paying its 62,000 employees, but in an open letter President and CEO Chris Kempczinski said closing those stores is the right thing to do because McDonald’s can’t ignore the “needless human suffering in Ukraine.”

Mondelez — Mondelez International said it will scale back nonessential activities while helping to maintain “continuity” of the Russian food supply.

Nestle — The world’s biggest packaged food group fell into line with rivals in halting investment in Russia.

Procter & Gamble — The multinational consumer goods corporation is ending all new capital investments in Russia and “significantly reducing” its portfolio to focus on basic hygiene, health and personal care items.

PepsiCo — Pepsi, based in Purchase, New York, said it will suspend sales of beverages in Russia. It will also suspend any capital investments and promotional activities. But the company said it will continue to produce milk, baby formula and baby food, in part to continue supporting its 20,000 Russian employees and the 40,000 Russian agricultural workers who are part of its supply chain.

Starbucks — Starbucks had said that it was donating profits from its 130 Russian stores — owned and operated by Kuwait-based franchisee Alshaya Group — to humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine. But the company then changed course and said it would temporarily close those stores. Alshaya Group will continue to pay Starbucks’ 2,000 Russian employees, Starbucks President and CEO Kevin Johnson said in an open letter to employees.

Total Wine & More — The national chain of liquor stores removed all Russian-made products from its shelves, the company announced Monday.

Yum Brands — The parent company of KFC and Pizza Hut, said it planned to temporarily close 70 company-owned KFC restaurants in Russia. The company said it was also in talks with a franchisee to close all 50 Pizza Hut restaurants in Russia. It had announced that it was donating all of the profits from its 1,050 restaurants in Russia to humanitarian efforts. It has also suspended new restaurant development in the country.

FREIGHT & LOGISTICS

FedEx — “In light of current circumstances, we will temporarily suspend service in and out of Ukraine until further notice,” Memphis-headquartered FedEx said in a statement. Inbound service to Russia has also been suspended, the company said.

UPS — Both inbound and outbound services to Ukraine have been halted as well as deliveries to Russian destinations.

HOSPITALITY

Airbnb – On Thursday, co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky announced the company is suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus.

RETAIL

Adidas — The sportswear firm quantified the cost of scaling back its operations in Russia, saying it would take a hit to sales of up to 250 million euros.

Amazon — On Tuesday, CEO Andy Jassy said the company is supporting NGOs on the ground in Ukraine with cash, as well as providing logistical support and cybersecurity assistance to companies and governments.

H&M — The Swedish fast fashion retailer has temporarily paused all sales in Russia, the company said in a statement. The stores in Ukraine have also been temporarily closed due to safety concerns.

IKEA — The world’s largest furniture brand has suspended all import and export in and out of Russia and Belarus, the company said in a statement Thursday. All IKEA retail stores have also been closed in Russia, as well as, all production operations in the country.

Imperial Brands — The British multinational tobacco company suspended all operations in Russia. This includes halting production at their factory in Volgograd and ceasing all sales and marketing activity.

Nike — The American sneaker giant said it is temporarily closing all stores in Russia, Reuters reports.

Philip Morris —  The cigarette maker said it would scale down manufacturing in Russia.

Unilever — The consumer goods company headquartered in London said it has suspended all imports and exports of its products into and out of Russia, and that it will not invest any further capital into the country. 

TECH

Amazon — Amazon said the company’s cloud computing network, Amazon Web Services, will stop allowing new sign-ups in Russia and Belarus.

Apple — Apple has paused all product sales in Russia, the company announced Tuesday. Apple Pay and other services have also been limited. The company also pulled RT News and Sputnik News, Russian state-controlled media outlets, from the App Store outside of Russia.

Google — On Tuesday, Google announced it is blocking YouTube channels connected to Russian state-controlled media outlets RT and Sputnik across Europe, effective immediately.

Meta (formerly Facebook) — On Friday, Meta announced it is prohibiting Russian state media from running ads or monetizing on its platform anywhere in the world. The company said it is stepping up fact-checking efforts in the region to debunk false claims.

Microsoft — The legacy tech giant is suspending all new sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia, the company announced Friday.

This story will continue to be updated.