The list of those cutting ties or reviewing their operations is growing by the hour as foreign governments ratchet up sanctions against Russia, close airspace to its aircraft and lock some banks out of the SWIFT money messaging system. With the ruble plunging and the U.S. banning transactions with the Russian central bank, operating in Russia has become deeply problematic. Some companies have concluded that the risks, both reputational and financial, are too great to continue.
For some companies, the decision to exit Russia is the conclusion of decades of lucrative, if sometimes fraught, investments. Foreign energy majors have been pouring money in since the 1990s. Russia’s largest foreign investor, BP Plc, led the way with its surprising announcement on Sunday that it would exit its 20% stake in state-controlled Rosneft, a move that could result in a $25 billion write-off and cut its global oil and gas production by a third…
When the Soviet Union fell apart, foreign companies saw enormous opportunities — a massive new market of millions of consumers as well as minerals and oil — and poured in to buy, sell and partner with Russian firms.
With Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, that trend has come to a screeching halt. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, said it’s freezing Russian assets worth about $2.8 billion and will come up with a plan to exit by March 15.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member