Top Largest Companies That Have Exited From Russia (65+)

After the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, many companies are exiting or cutting their investments in Russia. This article will show you the top companies that confirmed to pull out of Russia.

The US and its allies have imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Russia and Belarus. They have restricted the country’s access to its overseas currency reserves and barred many of its banks from SWIFT, a global network that financial firms use to conduct transactions.

On top of that, companies worldwide are not sitting on the fence and have united in suspending their services in Russia or even closing their branch entirely from there until further notice.

Update on March 11, 2022: Now there are over 330 that exited partially or completely from the Russian market.

Here, we have summarised some of the largest companies that have pulled out of Russia after the invasion:

Energy

The gas and oil industry was the first to cut ties with Russia after the invasion.

British Petroleum (UK)  has been under pressure from the UK government to make a move in response to the invasion begun by the Russian military on Thursday at Putin’s behest. “This military action represents a fundamental change,” said Helge Lund, BP’s chairman, in a statement. BP has owned shares in the Russian company since 2013. According to Reuters, the move could cost it anywhere from $14 billion to $25 billion.

Exxon Mobil’s (USA)  exit was particularly noteworthy. The oil company has a long history of close ties to Russia, even as its footprint in the country has shrunk in recent years. “ExxonMobil supports the people of Ukraine as they seek to defend their freedom and determine their future as a nation,” the company said in a statement. “We deplore Russia’s military action that violates the territorial integrity of Ukraine and endangers its people.”

Shell (UK) is due to leave its associations with Russian state-owned firm Gazprom, a day after BP said it would give up its stake in Kremlin-owned oil company Rosneft. According to a press release quoted by Reuters, Shell plans to exit its ventures with Gazprom and related entities. It said that the company would also end its involvement in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. The move could cost the company roughly $3 billion in assets.

Total Energies (French), the French oil and gas company, has suspended capital for new projects in Russia.

Equinor (Norway), Norway’s biggest energy company, announced it would begin withdrawing from its joint ventures in Russia, valued at about $1.2 billion. “We are all deeply troubled by the invasion of Ukraine, which represents a terrible setback for the world,” Anders Opedal, Equinor’s president and CEO, said in a statement.

ENI, the Italian energy group, plans to sell its stake in a pipeline carrying Russian gas to Turkey.

Siemens Energy, the German turbine maker, suspended new business in Russia.

OMV (Austria) announced on March 5 that Russia would no longer be one of its central regions, announcing depreciations and value cuts related to Nord Stream 2 and a gas field in western Siberia, while calling for “an end to all hostilities.” It states that it will bear an anticipated blow of 1.5-1.8 billion euros (1.6-2.0 billion dollars).

Automakers industry

The auto and aviation industries also signaled they’re staying out of the Russian market, either out of concern for Ukraine or to comply with Western sanctions.

General Motors (USA) has halted the sale of cars in Russia.

Ford (USA) is suspending its operations in Russia with immediate effect, the company announced Tuesday, according to CNN. The automaker holds a 50% stake in Ford Sollers, a joint venture between the American automaker and Russian company Sollers. The company also announced that it would donate $100,000 to the Global Giving Ukraine Relief Fund.

Daimler Truck (Germany) has suspended deliveries of truck components to its Russian partner Kamaz. “We have decided to discontinue our business activities in Russia with immediate effect until further notice,” it tweeted on Monday.

Mercedes-Benz Group has halted the sale of cars and vans in Russia.

Mitsubishi (Japan) said it could suspend the production and sale of its cars in Russia.

Honda (Japan) has suspended exports of cars and motorcycles to Russia and Mazda, which has suspended auto parts exports to its Russian plant.

BMW has stopped the export of cars to Russia and said it would stop production on the ground there, according to Reuters.

Volvo Cars (Sweden) said it stopped deliveries because of “potential risks associated with trading material with Russia,” including Western sanctions.

Harley-Davidson has paused the shipment of motorcycles to Russia, saying its thoughts are on the “safety of the people of Ukraine.”

Volkswagen (DE) suspended deliveries of cars to dealers in Russia. “Deliveries are to resume as soon as the effects of the sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States have been clarified,” a Volkswagen spokesperson said, according to Aljazeera.

Jaguar Land Rover (UK) and Aston Martin (UK), British luxury carmakers, have suspended vehicle deliveries to Russia.

Aviation

Boeing has suspended support for Russian airlines, the company announced Tuesday.

Airbus followed up with a similar measure on Wednesday, suspending all support services for Russian airlines and reducing the supply of spare parts to the country.

Electronics & Technology

Samsung, main Russia’s smartphone supplier, ahead of Xiaomi and Apple – will suspend deliveries to the country “due to current geopolitical developments.”. According to the BBC, it is unclear whether Samsung stores will close.

Dell Technologies, one of the leading laptop manufacturers, has suspended product sales in Ukraine and Russia.

Oracle Corp. suspends all operations in Russia.

Intel has suspended all product deliveries to Russia and Belarus.

Microsoft (USA) announced Friday on March 4 it was “horrified” by the situation in Ukraine and would suspend all new sales of its products and services in Russia.

Apple halted product sales and restricted Apple Pay Russia, disabled Apple Maps in Ukraine, and removed Russian state media outlets from its App Store.

Google (USA) has blocked Russian state media channels from its platforms. It has suspended Google Pay for customers of sanctions-hit Russian banks, meaning customers of those banks won’t be able to use the mobile payment system. Also, they stopped serving Google Ads to all people in Russia, so Russian businesses and those abroad can no longer advertise to the Russian audiences.

Meta (USA), Facebook’s parent company, has blocked access to Russian state-controlled outlets across the European Union after it “received requests from several Governments and the EU,” its policy head Nick Clegg said on Monday.

Twitter (USA) has also announced that it will reduce the visibility and amplification of Russian state media content.

Airbnb has suspended all operations in Russia and Belarus, hitting Russia’s 90,000 active short-term rentals on the service.

Spotify has “indefinitely” closed its Russian offices and removed state-backed media content from its platform.

Expedia, an online travel-booking company, ceased the sale of travel into and out of Russia on Wednesday, an Expedia spokesperson confirmed with Business Insider.

TikTok (China) has blocked Russian state media channels from the platform, including RT and Sputnik.

Roku, a company that sells hardware that allows users to stream content through the internet, has banned RT worldwide.

Entertainment

Netflix (USA) has temporarily halted all future film and television projects and acquisitions in Russia and has defied calls from the government to add state news channels to its service.

Electronic Arts, which makes hit games such as FIFA 22 and Battlefield, has stopped selling content, games, and virtual currency in Russia and Belarus.

PlayStation has also suspended the release of Grand Turismo 7 in Russia.

Walt Disney (USA) said, on February 28, it was pausing movie theater releases in Russia, citing “the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.” According to CNN, the Hollywood giant reportedly had several movies set for release in Russia over the next few months, including Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 5 and Pixar’s Lightyear on June 16.

Warner Bros followed suit and announced it would pause releases in Russia, including “The Batman,” NYT reported.

YouTube, owned by Google, has blocked Russian state media across Ukraine

Finance & Payments

PayPal (USA) stopped its services on Saturday morning, citing current circumstances, according to Reuters. The company will support withdrawals for a while and ensure that account balances are distributed according to applicable regulations.

Mastercard announced that it has banned financial institutions from accessing its network after the anti-Russian sanctions and that it will work with regulators in the coming days.

Visa also said on Tuesday that it was taking steps to comply with the measures.

Paysera (Lithuania) and Wise (UK) are reportedly moving to restrict their payment services in Russia, according to Electronic Payments International.

HSBC (UK) said it was starting to wind down relations with a host of Russian banks, including the second-largest, VTB, one of those targeted by sanctions, a memo was seen by Reuters showed.

Nasdaq Inc (USA) has temporarily halted trading in the stocks of Russia-based companies listed on their exchanges, their websites showed.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has announced it will give up shares in 47 Russian companies and Russian government bonds.

Retail

Sainsbury’s said it would remove all products that are 100% sourced from Russia, including Russian Standard vodka.

Mango, which employs 800 people in Russia, said it would temporarily close its stores and online platform.

Ikea has closed its 17 stores in Russia, the Swedish company’s 10th largest retail market, and has paused sourcing materials from Russia and Belarus.

H&M, the world’s second-largest clothing retailer, has paused all its sales in Russia and temporarily closed its Ukraine branches due to safety concerns.

Zara (Spain) will close all 502 clothing stores in Russia starting Sunday, the brand’s owner announced. Inditex will close temporary all stores of its eight brands: Zara, Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home, and Uterqüe.

Burberry has stopped sending products to Russia, but its two flagship stores there remain open for now.

Hermes has temporarily closed its stores in Russia, the first luxury goods giant.

Nike has stopped taking online orders for Russian customers as sanctions make processing payments more difficult, but its stores remain open.

Puma has suspended deliveries to Russia, but its 100 stores remain open.

Canada Goose suspended all wholesale and e-commerce sales to Russia on Wednesday and donated CAD 100,000 to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. “We will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves and join others around the world calling for peace,” the company said.

Services

Grant Thornton, a professional services firm, cut ties with its 500-person Russian member firm, auditing state oil company Gazprom.

Accenture followed her, reducing her entire activity to 2,300 people in Russia.

McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group have suspended customer activity in Russia.

Shipping companies

Several of the world’s largest shipping companies are no longer servicing customers in Russia.

UPS and FedEx are halting delivery services to Russia and Ukraine.

Maersk (Denmark) said it “has now suspended bookings to/from both Russia and Ukraine until further notice,” except for “foodstuffs, medical and humanitarian supplies.”

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company (Sweden) is halting cargo bookings with Russia. This would include “all access areas, including Baltics, Black Sea, and Far East Russia.”

Deutsche Post (Germany) has stopped DHL deliveries to Russia.

Conclusion

As you could see by reading our list of top companies that exited from Russia, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has triggered a mass exit of multinationals and brands: Thousands of stores, hundreds of factories, and tens of thousands of employees have been hit in the face of it.

For many companies, exiting Russia is as much about business as morality. As the war’s human cost grows, companies will have to respond not just to sanctions, but public sentiment, too.

Stakeholders like employees and consumers will want to see if companies’ actions and behaviors are consistent with the communicated support companies express for Ukrainians.

Do you know any other companies that announced they would pull out from Russia? Let us know in the comments, and we will add them to the list after checking their official announcements.