2022 boycott of Russia and Belarus
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Since early 2022,
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
have been boycotted by many companies and organizations in Europe, North America,
Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...
, and elsewhere, in response to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, which is supported by Belarus. , the
Yale School of Management The Yale School of Management (also known as Yale SOM) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. The school awards the Master of Business Admi ...
recorded more than 1,000 companies withdrawing or divesting themselves from
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, either as a result of sanctions or in protest of Russian actions. Ukrainian
National Agency on Corruption Prevention The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (, НАЗК, NACP) is a national anti-corruption agency of the Ukrainian government which is responsible for shaping and implementing anti-corruption policy, while creating an environment conducive ...
maintains a list called
International Sponsors of War International Sponsors of War () was a publicly-available list of companies and individuals maintained by the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) in connection with the Russo-Ukrainian War, particularly the Russian invasion of ...
that includes companies and individuals still doing business with Russia.


Overview

The majority of countries which sanctioned Russia following its 2014 annexation of Crimea began imposing additional sanctions to punish Russia for invading all of Ukraine—a move for which Russian President
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
had long prepared. Many companies were not impacted by sanctions against Russia but ruled in favor of cutting ties with the country either due to the public pressure or in protest of the Russian government's actions, or both. Ukrainian institutions have stated that the need for these measures is urgent. The response can be broadly divided into a "cultural boycott", aimed at amplifying the international condemnation of the invasion, and an "economic boycott", which is designed to make the war effort less sustainable. As a result of the latter, several commentators have warned of an unprecedented
economic collapse Economic collapse, also called economic meltdown, is any of a broad range of poor economic conditions, ranging from a severe, prolonged depression with high bankruptcy rates and high unemployment (such as the Great Depression of the 1930s), t ...
in Russia's future, citing a 30% drop in the ruble's value, a 20% rise in
interest rates An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, ...
and a 1% GDP expansion down from 1.7%. Analyses by multiple firms project year end GDP contraction of at least 5% and inflation of 15%. Some of the most critical blows to Russian infrastructure have been the loss of access to the
SWIFT Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...
payment system and limitations on Russia's ability to export oil. US Senator
Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
has stated that this crisis should influence energy policy more broadly in order to deter "authoritarian petrostates". While
Shell plc Shell plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and second ...
has been noted for relinquishing its stake in
Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...
, it was also criticised for buying a cargo of discounted Russian crude oil. The next day, following public outcry, Shell defended the purchase as a short term necessity, but also announced that it intends to reduce such purchases and put the profits from them into a fund that will go towards humanitarian aid to Ukraine. As of 10 March, half of the ten largest international companies with business ties to Russia announced that they are withdrawing or closing their operations; and the number of companies that have done so is over 300. Some of the largest snack and fast food companies have faced criticism for continuing to do business in Russia and Belarus. Anthony Pompliano has defended
cryptocurrency A cryptocurrency (colloquially crypto) is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. Individual coin ownership record ...
trading platforms for not participating in the boycott, stating "there is an incredible amount of inhumanity that goes into the decision to cut off the average citizen from the global financial system. What was their crime?" Critics of the
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
i government have pointed out that several American politicians who support isolating Russia economically previously campaigned for and passed
anti-BDS laws With regard to the Arab–Israeli conflict, many supporters of the State of Israel have often advocated or implemented anti- BDS laws (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions), which effectively seek to retaliate against people and organizations engag ...
punishing
boycotts of Israel Boycotts of Israel are the refusal and calls to refusal of having commercial or social dealings with Israel in order to influence Israel's practices and policies by means of using economic pressure. The specific objective of Israel boycotts va ...
. The cultural side of the boycott has focused on reducing the number of entertainment products available to people in Russia. These include films and albums but also live televised events that are hosted in Western countries. Yasmeen Serhan has commented that nationalistic sentiment, which has historically benefited Putin's regime, will be undermined by Russia's exclusion from sporting events. The banning of Russia and Belarus from the Olympics has drawn comparisons to the athletic boycott of apartheid
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. According to Olympic historians David Wallechinsky and Bill Mallon, the decision can be considered a turning point when compared to past leniency over the state-sponsored doping programme in Russia or the attempted abduction of Krystsina Tsimanouskaya by Belarus. In addition to cancelling planned appearances in Russia, several entertainment organisations with Russian members began to scrutinise their past support for Putin. Some of these celebrities refused to condemn the war but others lost their contracts because they did so without mentioning Putin by name. A statement by Alex Ovechkin, for example, called for peace in general and mentioned that his family members in Russia were also in danger. However, Czech former
Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
and
Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...
goaltender
Dominik Hašek Dominik Hašek (, ; born 29 January 1965) is a Czech former ice hockey goaltender who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), mostly for the Buffalo Sabres. Widely regarded as one of the best goaltenders in history, Hašek also p ...
responded to Ovechkin and criticized him for his past support of Putin, stating "What!? Not only an alibist, a chicken shit, but also a liar!", while also calling on the NHL to suspend all Russian players. One musician who referred to his family's safety when condemning the war was Alexander Malofeev. The Vancouver Recital Society, which had begun requiring this of all Russian performers, responded that Malofeev's statement was not sufficient to allow his concert to go ahead. Despite ongoing sanctions, 47 of the world's biggest 200 companies still have not left Russia, particularly energy companies remain invested there. U.K. energy giant
Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...
and Japanese trading firms
Mitsui is a Japanese corporate group and '' keiretsu'' that traces its roots to the ''zaibatsu'' groups that were dissolved after World War II. Unlike the ''zaibatsu'' of the pre-war period, there is no controlling company with regulatory power. Ins ...
and
Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...
hold double-digit stakes in the Sakhalin-2 oil and natural gas project. On July 1, 2022, Putin signed a decree to allow the government to seize the Sakhalin-2 oil and natural gas project but further attempts to formally nationalize the assets of international firms were paused when the bill did not make it through the
State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...
before the 2022 summer recess. According to Western analysts, remaining companies have experienced expropriation and
nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...
pressures, but officially Russia has denied that it is interested in such actions. In August 2022, Russia's trade and industry minister Denis Manturov stated, "we are not interested in the nationalization of enterprises or their removal.”


Boycotting companies and organisations


Banking and finance


Other

* The
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
announced on 25 February it will sell £20m in Russian holdings held by its Church Commissioners and the Church of England Pensions Board. The church also said it would not make any further investments in Russia, calling it an "immoral flood of corrupt money".


Education, research and science


Energy


Entertainment


Video games and esports


Food and beverage


Goods


Automotive


Apparel and accessories


Other


Services


Shipping and transport


Aviation


Space

Continued international collaboration on missions to the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...
(ISS) has been thrown into doubt. A petition to withdraw international support from Russian satellite navigation system
GLONASS GLONASS (, ; ) is a Russian satellite navigation system operating as part of a radionavigation-satellite service. It provides an alternative to Global Positioning System (GPS) and is the second navigational system in operation with global cove ...
and boycott the platform has been proposed by Polish engineer Daniel Kucharski from
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
and signed by tens of thousands of individuals. It is now being considered by ILRS.


Sports

; Full boycotts ; Partial boycotts ; Broadcasting rights * The
English Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
announced that they will cancel its broadcast rights with Russian television network
Match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...
which supposed to be started in the 2022/23 season, its current broadcaster Okko Sport will end the rights to the league earlier.


Technology


Tourism and hospitality


Other


Airspace closures

By 5 March 2022, the following countries and territories had completely closed their airspace to all Russian airlines and Russian-registered private jets: * * * * * * * * * * (since 2015) * * (EU27) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The European Union had already banned all Belarusian aircraft from EU airspace in June 2021 in response to the forced landing of Ryanair Flight 4978. As well, airlines from many other countries have diverted their flights away from Russian airspace, despite not being banned by Russia or not slapping a ban on Russian aircraft. This includes: * * * (Except flights to/from New York,
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
or
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, but would be unable to divert to Russian airports) * * * (Singapore Airlines had already diverted their flights away from Belarus after Ryanair Flight 4978 incident) *


Breaking of diplomatic relations

Both Ukraine and the
Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (, abbreviated FSM), or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a region of Oceania. The federation encompasses the majority of the Caroline Islands (excluding Palau) and consists of four Admin ...
indefinitely severed all diplomatic ties with Russia.


Controversy


Criticism

Critics of the boycott and sanctions have predicted that they would not cause significant changes in the Russian government's policy. Patrick Cockburn argued that sanctions similar to those used against
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
will cause widespread poverty and claim more lives than the use of military force. Others have supported the cultural boycott but called for economic coercion to be narrowly targeted. Some critics noted that the decision of major credit card companies to suspend their operations in Russia will affect any Russian who has taken out a credit card in their home country, including those who have protested against the war in Ukraine, who are trying to flee Russia or are now living abroad. Activists in Russia believe that amid lost access to financial and educational institutions, Putin will be better able to paint Western countries as the enemy. Carnegie Moscow Center scholar Andrey Movchan wrote that sanctions aimed at ordinary Russians could be "exactly what the Kremlin wants – that tens of millions of Russians who oppose the regime will be unable to leave the country and even temporarily find themselves in a world free of Russian propaganda", stating that sanctions should instead "uncompromisingly block the Kremlin's access to its financial and technological resources".
Cloudflare Cloudflare, Inc., is an American company that provides content delivery network services, cybersecurity, DDoS mitigation, wide area network services, reverse proxies, Domain Name Service, ICANN-accredited domain registration, and other se ...
CEO Matthew Prince stated that "if Cloudflare were to stop operating in Russia, the Russian government would celebrate us shutting down" because "indiscriminately terminating service would do little to harm the Russian government, but would both limit access to information outside the country, and make significantly more vulnerable those who have used us to shield themselves as they have criticized the government". Regarding the cultural boycott, Patrick West wrote that many parts had become a vehicle for
Russophobia Anti-Russian sentiment or Russophobia is the dislike or fear of Russia, Russian people, or Russian culture. The opposite of Russophobia is Russophilia. Historically, Russophobia has included state-sponsored and grassroots mistreatment and di ...
, notably an incident in which the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy considered cancelling a course on Dostoyevski but ultimately did not. A decision by the Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra to cancel a planned performance of
Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...
's ''
1812 Overture ''The Year 1812, Solemn Overture'', Op. 49, popularly known as the ''1812 Overture'', is a concert overture in E major written in 1880 by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The piece commemorates Russia's successful defense against the ...
'' was met with similar controversy. One of the directors stated that continuing with the original concert would have been offensive due to the themes of Russian military pride and not simply because Tchaikovsky was Russian. Discussing these issues, the communications coordinator for Diem25 expressed regret that
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
was suspending its adaptation of '' Anna Karenina'' due to the involvement of a Russian production company. Business professor Stanislav Markus has suggested that boycotts of Russia might expand to include more countries as the companies involved become increasingly comfortable with deglobalisation.


Polling within Russia and Belarus

In April 2022, only 11% of Belarusians supported sending Belarusian troops to Ukraine. A study performed by
Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...
in May 2022 revealed that 32% of Belarusian respondents supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine and 40% did not support the invasion. A Kremlin-associated poll claimed that the 68% of the Russian population approves of the "special military operation" in Ukraine, while independent polls put that number at 58%. The Kremlin-associated poll, which was conducted between February 28 and March 6, claimed that Putin's approval rating was 74.6%. According to the poll, in the group of 18-to-24-year-olds, only 29% of Russians supported the "special military operation" in Ukraine. Two reasons many Russians still support Putin and the "special military operation" in Ukraine have to do with the
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
and disinformation being sown by the Kremlin, and the antagonization and
discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...
by Western populations/institutions of Russian people. Some Russians publicly displayed the infamous "Z" letter. Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak displayed it while standing on a victory podium near a Ukrainian athlete and later expressed no regret for doing that. More than 200,000 attended Vladimir Putin's pro-war nationalist rally at the
Luzhniki Stadium The Grand Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, commonly known as Luzhniki Stadium, is the national stadium of Russia, located in its capital city, Moscow. Its total seating capacity of 78,011 makes it the List of football stadiums in R ...
on 18 March, with many forced by their employers to attend. A series of four online polls of Moscow residents by
Alexei Navalny Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny (, ; 4 June 197616 February 2024) was a Russian Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, opposition leader, anti-corruption in Russia, corruption activist and political prisoner. He founded the Anti-Corruption Found ...
's
Anti-Corruption Foundation The Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF or FBK; ; ) is a non-profit organization established in 2011 by the Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. The FBK published investigations into alleged corruption by high-ranking Russian government official ...
claimed that between February 25 and March 3, the share of respondents in Moscow who considered Russia an "aggressor" increased from 29% to 53%, while the share of those who considered Russia a "peacemaker" fell by half from 25% to 12%. Some observers noted what they described as a " generational struggle" among Russians over perception of the war, with younger Russians generally opposed to the war and older Russians more likely to accept the narrative presented by state-controlled media in Russia, the main source of news for most Russians. Kataryna Wolczuk, an associate fellow of
Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...
's Russia and Eurasia programme, said that " lderRussians are inclined to think in line with the official 'narrative' that Russia is defending Russian speakers in Ukraine, so it's about offering protection rather than aggression." A poll by the independent Levada Center published on 30 March saw Putin's approval rating jump from 71% in February to 83% in March. However, many respondents do not want to answer pollsters' questions for fear of negative consequences. In March 2022, when a Russian politician Maxim Katz and a group of Russian researchers commissioned a poll on Russians’ attitudes toward the war in Ukraine, 29,400 of the 31,000 people they called refused to answer after hearing the theme of the question.


Companies criticised for not joining the boycott

A number of companies have faced growing pressure to halt operations in Russia, but have not yet done so. Those include: *
Accor Accor S.A. is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties. It is the largest hospitality company in Europe, and the sixth largest hospitality company worldwide. Accor ope ...
, a French hospitality company with 55 locations in Russia *
AmerisourceBergen Cencora, Inc., formerly known as AmerisourceBergen, is an American drug wholesale company and a contract research organization, that was formed by the merger of Bergen Brunswig and AmeriSource in 2001. It is one of the largest pharmaceutica ...
, an American healthcare company with research depots in Russia * Arconic, an American industrial company *
Binance Binance Holdings Ltd., branded Binance, is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies. Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, a developer who had previously created high-frequency trading ...
, one of world's largest crypto exchanges, which refused to ban all Russian accounts. However, Binance announced that it has donated more than $10 million to its Ukrainian Emergency Relief Fund and $2.5 million to UNICEF's efforts in Ukraine. * Bosch, one of the largest German multinational engineering and technology companies headquartered in Gerlingen *
Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (18891976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of (), meaning ...
, a Japanese auto and truck parts manufacturer, left Russia after it sold all its interests in December 2023. *
Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...
, an American fast food chain *
Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...
, an American bank *
COSCO China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) was a former shipping corporation from 1961 to 2016, owned by the State Council of the People's Republic of China, State Council of China. The company merged with China Shipping Group, China Shipping Grou ...
, a Chinese container shipping company, and one of the largest container shipping companies in the world *
Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG (, ) was a global Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse was to be fully integrated into UBS. While the integration ...
, a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Credit Suisse has declared that its Moscow offices remain open, as it was trying to shred evidence of $1.7 billion Russian loans backed by yachts. *
Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...
, a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
, Germany, and dual-listed on the FWB and the NYSE. According to ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', Deutsche Bank has long had an "abject" reputation among major banks, as it has been involved in major scandals across different issue areas. * Ferragamo, an Italian luxury goods company, does not own stores in Russia and shipments to franchise operations ceased in March 2022. * French retail companies owned wholly or partially by members of the Mulliez family: **
Auchan Auchan () is a French multinational retail group headquartered in Croix, France. It was founded in 1961 by Gérard Mulliez and is owned by the Mulliez family, who has 95% stake in the company. With 354,851 employees, of which 261,000 have 5% ...
, a supermarket chain which in 2016 was ranked first in a list of the largest foreign-owned companies by the Russian edition of ''Forbes'', with revenue in Russia of more than $5 billion ** Leroy Merlin, a home improvement and DIY retailer, operates 112 stores in Russia. On 11 March the company announced it had no plans to reduce its operations in Russia. * Herbalife, an American marketing company * International Paper, an American paper and pulp manufacturer *
Japan Tobacco International JTI - Japan Tobacco International is the international tobacco division of Japan Tobacco (Global Fortune 500), one of the three largest international Big Tobacco product manufacturers. The holding company is JT International SA and headquartere ...
, the top tobacco company in Russia, which controls 37% of the Russian tobacco market * Kia, a South Korean car manufacturer and Russia's third-largest carmaker as of 2016. Kia holds a 30% stake in the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus plant in St. Petersburg which is being sold in December 2023. The contract includes a two-year buyback clause. *
Kimberly-Clark Kimberly-Clark Corporation is an American multinational consumer goods and personal care corporation that produces mostly paper-based consumer products. The company manufactures sanitary paper products and surgical & medical instruments. Kimb ...
, an American personal care corporation *
Koch Industries Koch, Inc. () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas, and is the second-largest privately held company in the United States, after Cargill. Its subsidiarie ...
, an American conglomerate *
Lenovo Lenovo Group Limited, trading as Lenovo ( , zh, c=联想, p=Liánxiǎng), is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, personal computers, software, servers, conv ...
, a Chinese hardware and electronics manufacturer *
Metro AG Metro AG is a German multinational company based in Düsseldorf which operates business membership-only cash and carry stores primarily under the Metro brand. , Metro is operating 626 wholesale stores in 21 countries, including Europe and P ...
, a German company which operates cash and carry stores in Russia *
Micro-Star International Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. (commonly known as MSI; ) is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational information technology corporation headquartered in New Taipei City, Taiwan. It designs, develops and provides computer hardwar ...
, a Taiwanese multinational information technology corporation * Mohawk Industries, an American manufacturer * Nokian Tyres, which produces 80% of its tyres in Russia and employs around 1,600 people. In October 2022, Nokian sold its Russian operations to Tatneft for €400 million and announced a €650 million investment for a new factory in Romania. * Otis Worldwide, an American elevator and escalator manufacturer. It announced on 11 March that is suspending new sales of its elevators and escalators in Russia while continuing all existing maintenance deals. *
Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...
, an Italian tyre manufacturer *
Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...
, a French automobile company * Timken, an American industrial company *
Whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...
, American manufacturer and marketer of home appliances


See also

* Corporate responses to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine * List of companies that applied sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War * List of people and organizations sanctioned during the Russo-Ukrainian War * International sanctions during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine *
International Sponsors of War International Sponsors of War () was a publicly-available list of companies and individuals maintained by the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) in connection with the Russo-Ukrainian War, particularly the Russian invasion of ...
* Disinvestment from Israel * Disinvestment from South Africa * " Do not buy Russian goods!" ** Boycott Russian Films


References

{{Foreign relations of Russia 2022 in international relations 2023 in international relations Boycotts of Belarus Boycotts of Russia Foreign relations of Belarus Foreign relations of Russia Reactions to the Russian invasion of Ukraine Disinvestment International sanctions Anti-Belarusian sentiment Anti-Russian sentiment Protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine