Factbox-Corporate ties to Russia uprooted as sanctions tighten

Factbox-Corporate ties to Russia uprooted as sanctions tighten © Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Equinor’s flag flutters next to the company’s headqurters in Stavanger, Norway December 5, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/

(Reuters) – Companies have taken action to limit, put on hold or exit business activities in Russia following a wave of sanctions imposed after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Below is a list of companies that have announced plans to exit Russia or to curb activities there:

AUTOMAKERS

Daimler (OTC:DDAIF) Truck said it would freeze its business activities in Russia with immediate effect, including its cooperation with Russian truck maker Kamaz.

Its pre-spinoff parent company, Mercedes-Benz Group, is looking into legal options to divest its 15% stake in Kamaz as quickly as possible.

Sweden’s Volvo Cars said it would suspend car shipments to the Russian market until further notice.

Truck maker AB Volvo, which is a separate group from Volvo Cars, is halting production and sales in Russia.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) said it would suspend all vehicle exports to Russia until further notice.

Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors (OTC:MMTOF) said it may suspend production and sale of its cars in Russia as sanctions could trigger supply chain disruptions.

French carmaker Renault (PA:RENA) will suspend some operations at its car assembly plants in Russia next week due to logistics bottlenecks.

Harley-Davidson Inc (NYSE:HOG) said it had suspended its business and shipments of its bikes to Russia.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Co informed joint venture partner Sollers it is immediately suspending operations in Russia until further notice.

British luxury carmakers Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin paused vehicle shipments to Russia.

Germany’s BMW has halted the export of cars to Russia and said it would stop production there.

Honda Motor said it has suspended its automobile and motorcycle exports to Russia.

Japan’s Mazda will suspend exports of auto parts to its Russian plant, Nikkei reported on Tuesday.

AVIATION

The world’s biggest aircraft leasing company AerCap Holdings, headquartered in Dublin, will cease leasing activity with Russian airlines.

U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing (NYSE:BA) said it was suspending parts, maintenance and technical support for Russian airlines.

Airbus said it has stopped sending spare parts to Russia and supporting Russian airlines, but was analysing whether its Moscow engineering centre could keep providing services to local customers under Western sanctions.

Lufthansa’s Technik unit, which provides maintenance, has stopped its services for Russian customers.

BANKS

Global bank HSBC is beginning to wind down relations with a host of Russian banks including the second-largest, VTB.

Nordic lender Nordea said it had suspended trading in investment funds heavily exposed to Russia.

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is looking into leaving Russia, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. A spokesperson said RBI had no plans to quit Russia.

Dubai’s Mashreqbank has stopped lending to Russian banks and is reviewing its exposure to the country, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

ENERGY

France’s TotalEnergies said it would no longer provide capital for new projects in Russia.

BP (NYSE:BP) is abandoning its 19.75% stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft, while Shell (LON:RDSa) said it would exit all its Russian operations, including the flagship Sakhalin 2 LNG plant in which it holds a 27.5% stake, and which is 50% owned and operated by Gazprom (MCX:GAZP).

Norwegian energy group Equinor will start the process of divesting from its joint ventures in Russia.

Denmark’s Orsted (OTC:DOGEF) has stopped sourcing Russian coal and biomass for its power plants but will continue to buy up to two billion cubic metres of natural gas from Gazprom per year under a long-term contract.

Orsted also said it was not entering into new contracts with companies or using suppliers from Russia.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) will exit Russia oil and gas operations that it has valued at more than $4 billion and halt new investment as a result of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Italian energy group Eni planned to sell its stake in the Blue Stream pipeline carrying Russian gas to Turkey that it co-owns with Russia’s Gazprom.

Austrian energy group OMV has scrapped plans to take a stake in a Gazprom gas field project and is reviewing its role in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

Centrica (OTC:CPYYY), owner of Britain’s largest energy suppler British Gas, said it would exit its gas supply agreements with Russian counterparts, principally Gazprom.

German turbine maker Siemens Energy said it has suspended all of its new business in Russia.

FILM AND TELEVISION

Hollywood studios Disney, Warner Bros, and Sony (NYSE:SONY) Pictures Entertainment said they would pause theatrical releases of upcoming films in Russia.

INDUSTRIALS

Swedish engineering group Sandvik is suspending its operations in Russia, while peer Atlas (NYSE:ATCO) Copco halted all deliveries to the country.

Finnish engineering group Metso (OTC:MXTOF) Outotec has temporarily ceased its deliveries to Russia.

Norsk Hydro (OTC:NHYDY) said it will not enter into new contracts linked to Russian producers until further notice. It is also evaluating options for existing commitments, including a potential freeze of commercial relations with Russian counterparts.

Siemens has suspended all new business and international deliveries to Russia but will continue local service and maintenance activites in compliance with the sanctions, a company spokesperson confirmed.

LOGISTICS

U.S.-based United Parcel Service Inc (NYSE:UPS) and FedEx Corp (NYSE:FDX), two of the world’s largest logistics companies, have said they are halting delivery services to Russia and Ukraine.

Container shipping company Ocean Network Express on Monday suspended bookings to and from Russia.

Shipping group Maersk will temporarily halt all container shipping to and from Russia in response to Western sanctions on Moscow.

Deutsche Post (OTC:DPSGY), announced it had stopped DHL deliveries to Russia.

German shipping company Hapag Lloyd said it had issued a temporary suspension on bookings for Russia and halted sailings for Ukraine.

Shipping company MSC has stopped cargo bookings to and from Russian but will still accept and screen food and humanitarian cargoes.

Swiss logistics company Kuehne und Nagel has indefinitely suspended all import shipments into Russia with immediate effect. This excludes medical, healthcare and humanitarian supplies.

Oil tanker company Frontline (NYSE:FRO) is unlikely to transport Russian crude oil, the company’s chief executive told Norway’s E24 business news website.

SPORTSWEAR

German sportswear company Adidas (OTC:ADDYY) has suspended its partnership with the Russian Football Union with immediate effect.

Nike (NYSE:NKE) has made merchandise purchases on its website and app unavailable in Russia as it cannot guarantee delivery of goods to customers in the country.

TECH

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has paused all product sales in Russia.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s Google said it has blocked mobile apps connected to Russian broadcasters RT and Sputnik from its Play store, in line with an earlier move to remove Russian state publishers from its news-related features.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) said it would remove state-owned RT’s mobile apps from the Windows App store and ban advertisements on Russian state-sponsored media.

Laptop maker Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) said it had suspended product sales in Ukraine and Russia.

TELECOMS

Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson (BS:ERICAs) is suspending its deliveries to Russia as it assesses the potential impact of sanctions on its business there.

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) will stop deliveries to Russia to comply with sanctions.

OTHER SECTORS

Finnish tyre maker Nokian Tyres is shifting production of some of its key product lines from Russia to Finland and the United States.

Finnish chemical company Kemira discontinued deliveries to Russia and Belarus from March 1 until further notice.

Swedish home appliance maker Electrolux paused all operations in Russia.

Stora Enso (OTC:SEOAY) has stopped imports and exports to and from Russia, and production and sales in the country.