They do business in Russia, and now they may pay a price

The sanctions, which include preventing the government and banks from borrowing in global financial markets, blocking technology imports and freezing assets of influential Russians, had been drawn up to maximize pain to the Russian economy while inflicting as little harm as possible within the European Union, the French finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, said Friday.

But thousands of foreign companies that have done business in Russia for years are bracing for an inevitable economic blowback, and war in Ukraine threatens to disrupt supply chains and drag down Europe’s economy just as it was starting to recover from the lashing of Covid lockdowns.

“The attack on Ukraine represents a turning point in Europe,” Christian Bruch, the chief executive of Germany-based Siemens Energy, a major producer of turbines and generators, said this week. “We as a company now have to analyze exactly what this situation means for our business.”