How Companies Are Responding to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
Russia shocked the world by launching an invasion of Ukraine that has turned into a war for the country. Governments around the world are responding with a variety of tactics, from utilizing crippling sanctions to shipping weapons directly to Ukrainian fighters. For business, the crisis presents immediate challenges from protecting workers in the region, to supply chain disruptions, to spikes in energy, food, and commodity prices, and supporting the ten million people the war has displaced.
But it also raises bigger questions on what it means for companies to support democracy, rule of law, and a free market society. The private sector has played a defining role in responding to the crises of the last two years. JUST polling has shown that the public continues to look to corporations for leadership on societal issues. As the conflict and humanitarian crisis unfolds at a rapid and heartbreaking pace, corporate leaders will need to navigate the threats it presents to how their companies operate in both the short and long term.
We’re keeping an eye on how corporations are responding to this crisis, and will be regularly updating this growing list below:
Aerospace and Defense
Airbus is halting services support and delivery of aircraft parts to Russian airlines. (March 2)
Boeing is cutting off its parts and maintenance support for Russian airlines and shutting down its operations in Moscow. (March 1)
Automobiles and Parts
Tesla will pay its Ukrainian employees for up to three months if they are conscripted to fight in the war. (March 9) The move comes after the company expanded its Starlink Satellite Internet services to Ukraine, in an attempt to maintain secure communications for its government and people. (February 27)
Ford has suspended its joint venture operations in Russia. (March 1)
GM, Daimler Truck, Volvo, and Volkswagen suspend business in Russia. (February 28) GM is also donating $250,000 to the International Rescue Committee and matching employee contributions to relief organizations. (March 4)
Banks
Citigroup is reducing its operations in Russia and unwinding its exposure in the country, including consumer and corporate loans and other financial products. (March 14)
Deutsche Bank is winding down operations in Russia and has committed to no new business in the country. (March 11)
JPMorgan is winding down its operations in Russia and will not be making any new investments in the country. (March 10) The move comes after the company removed Russian securities from its fixed income indexes. (March 7)
Capital Markets
Goldman Sachs is shutting down its operations in Russia. The firm still facilitates trades in debt securities tied to the nation. (March 10)
State Street has suspended the purchase of Russian securities in all portfolios. (March 4)
BlackRock has suspended purchase of Russian securities in its active and index funds. (March 3)
Nasdaq and Intercontinental Exchange Inc’s New York Stock Exchange have halted trading in Russian stocks. (March 3)
Commercial Support Services
Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC are cutting off their businesses in Russia and Belarus. (March 7)
American Express is shutting down its operations in both Russia and Belarus. (March 6)
Mastercard and Visa are each suspending all operations in Russia. (March 5) The move comes after both companies blocked Russian financial institutions on their networks and pledged $2 million in humanitarian aid. (March 1)
PayPal is suspending its services in Russia. (March 5)
Bain & Company has committed to not working with any Russian clients, state-owned or otherwise, after exiting its relationships with government clients in 2020. The firm has also contributed $1 million to UNHCR and $15 million in pro bono support to address the refugee crisis. (March 5)
Accenture is shutting down its operations in Russia while Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey are suspending work with all Russian clients. (March 3)
Commercial Vehicles and Machinery
Caterpillar is pausing its manufacturing operations in Russia. (March 9)
Computer Services
IBM is withdrawing from Russia and has developed a resource for its employees in Ukraine to safely find lodging, food, supplies, and transportation amid the conflict. (March 8)
Consumer and Diversified Finance
MSCI is removing Russian equities from emerging markets indexes. (March 2)
Energy Equipment and Services
Halliburton and Schlumberger are suspending operations in Russia. Halliburton and Baker Hughes are also halting future investment in the country. (March 19)
Food, Beverage, and Tobacco
Carlsberg and Heineken are pulling business out of Russia. (March 28)
PepsiCo is contributing $5 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and neighboring countries, with $4 million going to relief organizations and $1 million in matching employee gifts. The company is also using its offices and warehouses in Europe as temporary refugee shelters. (March 14) PepsiCo previously suspended sale and production of Pepsi-Cola and other beverage brands in addition to capital investments and advertising and promotion activities in Russia. The company will continue to provide essentials and support the 60,000 workers it employs both directly and through its supply chain in the country. (March 8)
Mars is scaling back its business in Russia to providing only food essentials, suspending new investments, and stopping imports or exports in or out of the country. The company has also ceased marketing and advertising activity in Russia and Belarus and will be donating the profits of its Russian business to humanitarian causes, in addition to $12 million in cash and in-kind relief contributions. (March 10)
Coca-Cola is suspending its business in Russia. (March 8)
Danone is halting new investments in Russia and has closed one of its two factories in Ukraine. (March 6)
Philip Morris International has suspended operations in Ukraine, including its factory in Kharkiv, as Russian forces continue to attack the country. (February 25)
Household Goods and Apparel
Mattel has paused shipments to Russia and contributed $1 million in cash and in-kind contributions to relief organizations. (March 9)
Adidas is suspending in-store and digital sales in Russia and securing pay for its employees in the country. (March 7)
Activision Blizzard is suspending new sales of its games and in-game purchases, in Russia. (March 4)
Nike is closing its Russian stores after suspending online sales in the country. (March 3)
Harley Davidson is suspending its sales in Russia and shipments of bikes to the country. (March 1)
Industrial Goods
General Electric is suspending its operations in Russia with the exception of providing essential medical equipment and power supply to the country. (March 8)
Insurance
Allstate has set up a $1 million Ukrainian Relief Fund and is matching employee contributions. (March 7)
Internet
Spotify is suspending operations in Russia, in-line with new laws restricting freedom of expression in the country (March 25)
Google is matching contributions from the public to UN relief organizations up to $5 million through April 30. (March 17). YouTube, Google’s video subsidiary, will no longer allow Russian state media outlets to run ads across its platforms. The company also temporarily disabled Google Maps in the Ukraine in order to keep traffic and population data out of Russian hands. (February 27) In addition, the company has donated $15 million to relief efforts in the area. (March 1)
Slack is cutting off access for some Russian customers, complying with sanctions and the policies of its parent company, Salesforce. (March 15)
TikTok is suspending new video uploads and livestreams on its platform from Russia. (March 6)
Grammarly will continue to provide salary and benefits to its Ukraine-based employees who join the country’s army. (March 21) The Ukraine-founded spelling and grammar app previously started a $5 million fund to donate all of its net revenue earned from Russia and Belarus from 2014 through 2022 to causes supporting Ukraine. The company has also paused operations in Russia and Belarus. (March 4)
Meta has updated community resources for users in Ukraine, offered free advertising for relief organizations, and added new safety features for users in the region. (March 8) The company has also suspended advertising from Russian customers and targeting Russian users and demoted posts from state-run media outlets. (March 4)
Airbnb is working with its hosts to freely house up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. (February 28)
Twitter has suspended all advertising on its platform and is curbing recommended posts in order to help Ukranians only see important safety info on their feeds. (February 25)
Media
The New York Times is removing its journalists from Russia. (March 8) The outlet joins Bloomberg and BBC in pulling staff from the country. ABC News, CBS News, and CNN also announced that they will stop broadcasting from Russia. (March 4)
Netflix is pulling out of Russia, prohibiting new users from signing up for its service and revoking access for current users. (March 6) The move comes after it declined to add Russian channels to its streaming service in the country, defying a Russian rule requiring services reaching more than 100,000 subscribers to carry 20 state-run broadcasters. (February 28)
DirecTV is dropping RT America from its lineup. (March 1)
Disney is suspending all business in Russia including content and product licensing, Disney Cruise Line activities, National Geographic magazine and tours, local content productions, and linear channels. (March 10) The company previously joined Warner Bros, and Sony in pausing theatrical releases in Russia, (February 28) followed by Paramount Pictures and Universal. (March 1)
Oil & Gas
Shell will stop crude oil purchases from Russia and phase out its additional business operations in the country. (March 8) The move comes after the company announced it’s exiting all its joint ventures with Gazprom. (February 28)
BP will not enter into any new business with Russian entities or involving Russian ports. The company also committed to not chartering Russian-owned or Russian-operated vessels where possible. (March 8) The move comes after BP and Equinor offloaded all of their shares of Russian oil company Rosneft, and high ranking executives resigned from Rosneft’s board. (February 28)
Exxon Mobil is ending its involvement in an oil and gas development project in Russia with Rosneft, a state-run energy company. (March 1)
Personal Products
P&G will suspend spending on capital investments, and advertising and promotions in Russia while continuing to sell basic health, hygiene, and personal care products. (March 7)
Unilever is stopping imports and exports in and out of Russia, and halting media and advertising spend in the country. The company will continue to supply essential food and hygiene products, but has committed to no further investments in Russia. (March 7)
Pharmaceuticals and Biotech
Pfizer will donate profits from its Russian operations to humanitarian aid in Ukraine and has committed to no new clinical trials in Russia. (March 14)
Retail
Uniqlo is pausing its operations in Russia. (March 10)
Amazon is suspending access to Prime Video for Russia-based customers in addition to pausing deliveries to Russia and Belarus. (March 9)
eBay is removing items from its online marketplace that express support for Russian President Vladimir Putin. (March 8) The move comes after the company paused shipments to buyers in Russia and Ukraine. (February 25)
TJX, the parent company of retailer T.J. Maxx, is selling its 25% stake in Familia, a Russian retail chain, and its executives have resigned from the Familia board. (March 3)
H&M is pausing all sales in Russia. (March 2)
IKEA is closing its stores in Russia and halting sourcing from the country and Belarus while providing pay for at least the next three months for its 15,000 affected employees. The company’s foundation is donating €20 million to address the refugee crisis. IKEA’s parent companies, Inter IKEA Group and Ingka Group, are also donating €10 million each to UNHCR, Save the Children, and other relief organizations working on the ground. (March 2)
Etsy is canceling the current balances owed to Etsy by all sellers in Ukraine, which includes listing fees, transaction fees, advertising fees, and more, a contribution of approximately $4 million. (February 28)
Uber is offering free rides from the Poland-Ukraine border. (February 28)
Restaurants and Leisure
Hilton and Hyatt have suspended new development in Russia. Hilton has also closed its corporate office in Moscow. (March 9)
McDonald’s will temporarily close 850 restaurants in Russia and continue to pay its 62,000 employees in the country. (March 8)
Starbucks is suspending all business activity in Russia and will provide support for its nearly 2,000 employees in the country. (March 8)
Yum Brands Inc, the parent company of KFC and Pizza Hut, is pausing investment in Russia. Yum is also suspending operations for the 70 company-owned KFC restaurants in Russia and working with its master franchisee to suspend Pizza Hut operations in the country. (March 8)
Expedia is halting sales of travel in and out of Russia. (March 2)
Semiconductors and Equipment
Nvidia is halting all product sales in Russia. (March 4)
Software
Salesforce is stopping business with Russian-based customers and donating $2 million to relief efforts addressing the refugee crisis and humanitarian need in Ukraine. (March 7)
Adobe is suspending all new sales in Russia and revoking access to products and services from Russian state-controlled media outlets. (March 4)
Oracle is suspending operations in Russia and SAP is pausing sales in the country. (March 2)
Dell is suspending product sales in Russia. (March 1)
Microsoft is supporting the Ukraine and U.S. governments as well as NATO and the European Union to identify and defend cyberattacks. (February 28)
Technology Hardware
Cisco is stopping all business operations in Russia and Belarus, and offering free services for customers in Ukraine as well as enhanced cybersecurity support for organizations operating in the country. (March 3)
HP is suspending shipments and pausing all marketing and advertising in Russia. (March 3)
Apple will stop selling physical products, has stopped Apple Pay, and restricted some apps in Russia. (March 1)
Telecommunications
Verizon has waived international fees for calling, texting, and data to and from Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine through March 17. (March 9) The company had previously joined AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile in waiving fees to those in the U.S. calling family members in Ukraine in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion. (February 25)
Transportation
DHL and Kuehne + Nagel, Europe’s largest logistics firms, have halted deliveries into Russia and Belarus. (March 2)
FedEx and UPS temporarily halt services to Russia. (February 27)
Delta is severing ties with the Russian airline Aeroflot, removing its codeshare agreements from any of the company’s planes. (February 25)
In addition to the corporate actions tracked above, companies with significant presence in Russia have come under increasing pressure from their stakeholders to pull out of the country. The Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute is keeping an up-to-date list of those companies that remain operating in Russia along with their business exposure in the country.
