Here’s a look at the latest announcements from the major companies.
the cars
Ford had said earlier Tuesday that it was “extremely concerned about the situation in Ukraine,” but did not go so far as to halt operations in the three Russian cities where the company has plants: Saint Petersburg, Ilapuga and Naberezhnye Chelny.
The company notes that it has “significantly discontinued” its Russian operations in recent years, and has a “strong group of Ukrainian citizens working for Ford around the world”.
GM doesn’t have a large presence there: It only sells about 3,000 vehicles a year through 16 dealer locations, according to a spokesperson. That’s among more than 6 million vehicles the Detroit automaker sells annually worldwide.
Toyota announced Thursday that it will stop making cars in Russia, or importing them into the country “until further notice, due to supply chain disruptions.”
Volkswagen Car production has ceased in Russia and exports to the Russian market will be halted, with immediate effect.
“The Volkswagen Group received the news of the war in Ukraine with great alarm and shock,” the automaker said on Thursday. “This decision applies to the Russian production sites in Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod.”
airline
Boeing On Tuesday, it said it would suspend support for Russian airlines.
A spokesman for the company confirmed that it had temporarily suspended “spare parts, maintenance and technical support services for Russian airlines,” and “also suspended major operations in Moscow and temporarily closed our office in Kyiv.”
“As the conflict continues, our teams are focused on ensuring the safety of our colleagues in the area,” the representative added.
Airbus Boeing followed suit on Wednesday. The aircraft manufacturer said in a statement that it had “suspended support services for Russian airlines, as well as the supply of spare parts to the country.”
big technology
an Apple On Tuesday, the company announced that it would stop selling its products in Russia.
The company said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned” about the Russian invasion. In response, it has also moved to restrict access to digital services, such as Apple Pay, within Russia, and has restricted the availability of Russian state media apps outside the country.
The move comes after receiving “requests from a number of governments and the European Union to take further steps with regard to Russian state-controlled media,” Nick Clegg, the company’s vice president for global affairs, wrote in a tweet.
Meta also said it has implemented account restrictions on Russian state media that should prevent them from appearing more prominently in users’ feeds.
“Given the current situation, we have no plans to add these channels to our service,” the company told CNN Business.
“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the unprovoked attack on Ukraine,” the spokesman added. “Our number one priority over the past week has been the safety of our employees and to ensure that Spotify continues to serve as an important source of global and regional news at a time when access to information is more important than ever.”
youtube, owned by Joogle, It said over the weekend that it had blocked Russian state media inside Ukraine, including RT. The video platform also said it would “significantly limit recommendations to these channels”.
Google and YouTube also said they would no longer allow Russian state media to run ads or monetize their content.
energy
BP On Sunday, it said it plans to give up its 19.75% stake in Russia’s largest oil company, Rosneft, and their joint ventures – representing one of the largest foreign investments in Russia.
Equinor The Norwegian oil and gas company announced on Monday that it will also begin to exit its joint ventures in Russia.
“We are all deeply disturbed by the invasion of Ukraine, which is a terrible setback for the world,” said CEO Anders Obedal.
The company said it has a long-term investment of $1.2 billion in Russia by the end of 2021. It has been operating in Russia for more than 30 years and has a cooperation agreement with Rosneft.
exon On Tuesday, it pledged to leave the last remaining oil and gas project in Russia and not to invest in new developments in the country.
The Sakhalin 1 project is “one of the largest international direct investments in Russia,” according to the project’s website. An Exxon subsidiary holds a 30% stake, while Rosneft also owns a stake.
By withdrawing from this project, Exxon will end more than a quarter-century of continued commercial presence in Russia.
On Monday, the UK-based oil company said it will give up its stake in a liquefied natural gas facility, its stake in a project to develop fields in West Siberia and its interest in an exploration project on the Gedan Peninsula in northwest Siberia.
“We are shocked by the loss of life in Ukraine which we regret as a result of an unreasonable act of military aggression that threatens European security,” Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said in a statement.
The French oil giant has done business in Russia for 25 years and recently helped launch a major LNG project on the Siberian coast.
finance
Media and entertainment
A spokesperson for the US satellite carrier told CNN Business on Tuesday that it was already reviewing whether to renew the port’s transfer agreement, which was due to expire later this year. The representative said that Russia’s war on Ukraine hastened its decision.
The entertainment giant had several films scheduled to be released in Russia in the coming months. That includes Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” on May 5 and Pixar’s “Lightyear” on June 16.
“We will make future business decisions based on the evolution of the situation,” a Disney spokesperson said.
The movie is expected to be one of the biggest blockbusters of the year and will be released in most countries by Warner Bros. , which, like CNN, is a unit of WarnerMedia.
A spokesman for the company said the decision was made “in light of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine”, and that the company hoped for a “quick and peaceful solution to this tragedy”.
sectoral
H&M All sales in Russia will be halted temporarily, it announced Wednesday.
The company said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned about the tragic developments in Ukraine, and stands by everyone who is suffering.”
Giant clothing stores in Ukraine have already closed due to safety concerns.
According to its website, H&M Group, which operates a number of brands, had 168 stores in Russia as of last November.
IKEA The largest furniture company in the world, it closes 17 stores in Russia. The company said the conflict had a “tremendous human impact” and “leads to serious disruptions to supply chain and trading conditions”. In addition to temporarily halting retail and manufacturing operations in Russia, it will suspend all trade with the country and its ally, Belarus.
IKEA said 15,000 workers would be directly affected by the shutdown in the region. The company will continue to pay them, at least for a while.
Shipping
“As the stability and safety of our operations is already directly and indirectly affected by the sanctions, new Maersk bookings to and from Russia will be temporarily suspended, with the exception of food, medical and humanitarian supplies,” the Denmark-based company said in a statement. Tuesday statement.
“We are deeply concerned about the continuing escalation of the crisis in Ukraine,” the company added.
MSC, a Swiss-owned container shipping line, said its special suspension began on Tuesday, and would include “all access areas, including the Baltic, Black Sea and Russia’s Far East.”
Richie Iyengar, Michelle Toh, Chris Isidore, Vanessa Yurkevich, Paul B. Murphy, Mark Thompson, Vasco Cutofio, Peter Valdes Dabbana, Frank Pallotta, Brian Fong, Oliver Darcy, Jordan Valinsky, Chris Liakos, and Pamela Boikov contributed to this report.
