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Since the invasion of Ukraine in February, Nike has made plans to leave Russia. Thus, making it the most recent Western company to do so.
In March, the US sportswear company stopped accepting online orders and shut down the stores it had opened there. Although the company is winding down those arrangements, stores run by local partners have remained to be open.
Networking behemoth Cisco also announced that it would begin to shut down operations in Belarus and Russia completely. In recent weeks, McDonald’s and Starbucks have also finalized their exit strategies.
Nike – Deciding to Stop Business in Russia
Nike issued a statement announcing its decision to stop doing business in Russia. Our top focus is ensuring we properly support our staff. Because we carefully wind back our activities in the coming months.
Since the invasion, as the West and its allies impose sanctions and foreign businesses flee the country, Russia has become increasingly economically isolated. According to Reuters, the nation is currently working on laws that would penalize foreign corporations looking to go. Therefore, enabling the government to take their assets and levy penalties.
According to its website, Nike operates over 50 stores in Russia, nearly a third of which are shut down. In addition, Russian media revealed in May that the corporation was terminating its franchise deal with the country’s largest franchisee, who was in charge of 37 outlets.
Nike previously revealed that the combined revenue from Russia and Ukraine was less than 1% of the total.
In a statement on Thursday, Cisco said that it had “decided to start an orderly wind-down of our business in Russia and Belarus.” The US corporation told that this choice would impact a small number of its employees but added that it wanted to make sure they were “treated with respect.”
In March, the networking powerhouse stopped conducting business in the area, including sales and services, suffering a $200 million (£160 million) blow to third-quarter revenues.
