Youtube, Disney, Goldman Sachs—Here Are The Companies Cutting Ties With Russia Over Ukraine Invasion

Youtube said Friday it was blocking access to channels associated with Russian-funded media globally, expanding on a move made by the company last week to block them in Europe.

A spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase told CNBC on Thursday the bank is in the process of “actively unwinding Russian business” and is not pursuing new opportunities in the country.

After pausing theatrical releases in Russia last week, Disney announced Thursday it is taking steps to suspend its business in the country, including cruises, licensing and productions.

After Verizon waived residential and mobile call fees and roaming charges to and from Ukraine last week, a company spokesperson told Forbes on Thursday that through March 17, Verizon is waiving international calling, texting and data roaming charges to and from Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine, and will donate $750,000 to relief efforts.

Investment bank Goldman Sachs is “winding down its business in Russia in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements,” a spokeswoman told Forbes on Thursday, adding that the firm is “focused on supporting clients” as it manages or closes out pre-existing obligations in the market.

Sony Interactive Entertainment, which makes popular video game console Playstation, told The Verge Wednesday it suspended software and hardware shipments to Russia, closed its Playstation stores there and delayed the release of Gran Turismo 7 in the country.

Marriott said Thursday it closed its corporate office in Moscow and paused plans for new hotel development and investments in Russia, though its third-party owned hotels in the country will remain open at this time.

Hilton announced the closure of its Moscow office Wednesday and the suspension of new business in Russia, and said the company will donate any profits from business in the country to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

Hugo Boss said Monday it would suspend its retail operations in the Russia and temporarily closed its stores in the country on Wednesday.

Fast Retailing, the company behind retail giant Uniqlo, said Thursday it was temporarily suspending its operations in Russia, only days after chief executive Tadashi Yanai said stores would stay open in the country because “clothing is a necessity of life” and “the people of Russia have the same right to live as we do.”

3M, the consumer goods conglomerate known for its household products, announced Tuesday it would suspend all business operations, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Sneaker brand Skechers said Wednesday it suspended shipments to Russia last week, and it promised to donate $250,000 to organizations in Poland and Ukraine and match an additional $250,000 in employee donations.

John Deere announced Wednesday the company stopped shipping its machines to Russia two weeks ago, and has since also halted shipping to Belarus, a key ally of Russia.

Amazon said Tuesday it will halt shipment of retail products to customers in Russia and Belarus, suspend access to Prime Video in Russia, and no longer accept new customers based in Russia or Belarus as Amazon Web Services clients or third-party Amazon sellers.

WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar told employees the company is halting all new business in Russia, and will not broadcast its channels there, license content from Russian entities or release movies or games in the country, Variety reported Wednesday.

Heineken NV, the world’s second-largest beer brewer, said Wednesday it would not sell, produce or advertise Heineken branded beer in Russia.

Tobacco company Imperial Brands said Wednesday it suspended operations in Russia, and have halted production at its factory in Vogograd.

Tobacco brand Philip Morris International, which makes the popular cigarette Marlboro, said Wednesday it suspended plans for investments in Russia, including new product launches, and will scale down its manufacturing in the country.

Papa John’s suspended all corporate operations in Russia, including marketing and support of it’s independently-owned locations, the company said Thursday.

Universal Music Group is suspending its operations in Russia and will close its Russian office, it told Variety, which also reported Tuesday the other two major U.S. music labels—Sony and Warner—will announce decisions about their companies’ statuses in Russia in the coming days.

Bumble said it will halt operations in Russia and will remove its apps from Apple and Google’s app stores in both Russia and Belarus, noting Ukraine, Russia and Belarus accounted for 2.8% of the company’s sales in 2021.

PepsiCo suspended sales of Pepsi-Cola, Mirinda, 7Up and other brands in Russia on Tuesday, and cut off all capital investments, advertising and promotions in the country.

Coca-Cola said Tuesday it will suspend business in Russia.

Starbucks suspended all business activity in Russia Tuesday, temporarily closing locations and pausing the shipment of Starbucks products, the company said in a letter.

Fast food giant McDonald’s announced Tuesday it will “temporarily” close its 847 locations in Russia, but will continue to pay its 62,000 employees there, and is still paying its Ukrainian employees (Read more here).

Luxury watch maker Swatch Group, home to brands like Omega and Blancpain, paused its retail operations in Russia on Tuesday.

Adidas closed its stores in Russia and suspended its online sales there Tuesday, after the brand said on March 1 it was suspending its partnership with the Russian Football Union, effective immediately, bringing a halt to the years-long partnership between the soccer program and Europe’s largest sportswear manufacturer.

Shell said Tuesday it would stop buying Russian oil and gas, after announcing last week it it would divest in several ventures with Gazprom, a Russian-state owned gas company totaling to roughly $3 billion in value (Read more here).

Estée Lauder said Monday it would close the stores it owns and operates in Russia, and would stop shipping its products to other retailers there.

P&G told employees Monday it would halt capital investments, advertising and promotions in Russia, and only focus on selling products related to personal care, hygiene and basic health, the Wall Street Journal reported.

IBM announced Monday it has suspended all business in Russia and that it is donating $500,000 to Czech and Polish humanitarian organizations.

WeWork said Monday it is “finalizing solutions” to “divest operations” in Russia and has paused plans for expansion in the area.

Denim retailer Levi Strauss announced Monday it is suspending sales and halting investments in Russia, and will donate over $300,000 to organizations aiding the refugees and people in Ukraine.

Car maker Nissan said Monday it has suspended Exports to Russia and “anticipates” that production will soon halt at its St. Petersburg plant, and announced a 2.5 million Euros fund to help the people of Ukraine and employees affected by the crisis.

Deloitte said Monday it would “no longer operate” in Russia or Belarus, and Ernst & Young said it would no longer work with the Russian government, Russian state-owned companies or “sanctioned entities and individuals anywhere in the world.”

KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers, two of the four major U.S. accounting firms, each announced Sunday their Russia-based firms would be leaving their respective networks, with KPMG’s Belarus-based firm leaving as well: “We believe we have a responsibility, along with other global businesses, to respond to the Russian government’s ongoing military attack on Ukraine,” KPMG said in its release.

Netflix paused production and acquisitions of four Russian projects, Deadline and Variety reported Wednesday, siting anonymous sources, and told Variety Sunday it was suspending its streaming service in Russia.

TikTok announced on Twitter Sunday it is suspending live-streaming and new content to its video service in Russia while it reviews the “safety implications” of Russia’s law, which went into effect Friday and bans any content the Russian government deems “fake news” about its military—with the publishing of such content punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

American Express is suspending all operations in Russia in response to the country’s “unjustified attack on the people of Ukraine,” the credit card company announced Sunday in a press release, adding it is ending all business operations in Belarus.

Mastercard and Visa each announced Saturday their cards will no longer function at Russian merchants or ATMs, and that cards issued in Russia by Russian banks will no longer function internationally, following their earlier block of a number of Russian financial institutions targeted by sanctions from their networks, in compliance with Western sanctions.

The Prada group, which owns luxury brands Prada and Miu Miu, said Saturday it is suspending retail operations in Russia.

EA suspended sales of its games and other content, including virtual currency bundles, in Russia and Belarus March 4, after removing the Russian national team from FIFA and the Russian and Belarusian teams from its NHL games earlier this week.

Hermès became the first luxury brand to suspend operations in Russia, announcing March 4 it would temporarily close its stores in the country, saying it is “deeply concerned by the situation in Europe,” the Wall Street Journal reported, followed shortly by a similar announcement from Chanel, which added it will also suspend deliveries to Russia.

Microsoft said March 4 it was suspending new sales of its products and services in Russia, and is “proactively” working “to help cybersecurity officials in Ukraine defend against Russian attacks.”

Samsung halted shipments to Russia on March 4, the company told Reuters and Bloomberg, following a similar move by Apple.

Airbnb is “suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus,” CEO Brian Chesky tweeted March 3, days after the apartment sharing firm said it would offer free, short-term housing for 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine.

Google said March 3 it will no longer sell online advertising in Russia through its search engine, YouTube or outside publishing partners, according to Reuters, and the apps for Russian state-run media outlets RT and Sputnik were removed from Google’s Play store Wednesday.

Volkswagen suspended production of its vehicles in Russian cities Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod and paused exports to the country.

A statement from the companies in charge of IKEA’s stores and supply, reported by Reuters, said the “huge human impact” of the war, as well as supply chain disruptions, prompted the firm to take close its shops in Russia.

Mercedes-Benz said March 2 it is suspending the export of passenger cars and vans to Russia and is pausing local manufacturing in the country.

Software company SAP announced March 2 it is “stopping business in Russia aligned with sanctions” and suspending product and services sales in the country, though Ukrainian Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted it did not go far enough, and asked the organization to “stop support of SAP products, as long as Russian tanks and missiles attack Ukraine!”

Spotify closed its Russian office indefinitely and followed suit with fellow tech leaders Google and Apple by removing all content from RT and Sputnik from its platform in response to the country’s “unprovoked attack on Ukraine,” though the company says it is not disabling its service in Russia as it believes it is critical to maintain a “global flow of information,” Variety reported March 2.

Technology company Oracle tweeted March 2 that it has “already suspended all operations in the Russian Federation,” after Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov publicly urged the company to stop doing business in Russia “until the conflict is resolved.”

Clothing retailer H&M said March 2 its Ukrainian stores have been temporarily closed for safety reasons, and the company has temporarily paused its sales in Russia.

Following decisions February 28 by FIFA and the Union of European Football Associations to bar the Russian team from competing, EA Sports announced March 2 it has begun removing the Russian national team and Russian clubs from its FIFA video games “in solidarity with the Ukrainian people.”

Honda suspended exports of its cars and motorcycles to Russia, with a spokesperson for the company telling Reuters on March 2 it was because of shipping and payment difficulties.

ExxonMobil announced March 1 it will exit a joint venture off Sakhalin Island in Russia’s Far East, and will not invest in other developments in the country following its invasion of Ukraine, which the company said “violates the territorial integrity of Ukraine and endangers its people.”

Boeing said March 1 it has suspended major operations in Moscow along with maintenance, parts and technical support services for Russian airlines, adding that it shut down its Kyiv office, according to Politico.

Streaming provider Roku removed the Russian state-controlled television network RT from its channel stores in the U.S. March 1, one day after it was removed from European stores, according to Deadline and Reuters.

Nike has disabled online product purchases in Russia as it cannot guarantee delivery to customers in the country, the brand said on its Russian website, directing customers to local Nike stores.

Ford announced March 1 it was suspending its commercial van JV in Russia “until further notice.”

Apple said March 1 it paused sales of its products in Russia, restricted apps for RT at Sputnik so they can only be downloaded in the country and disabled the traffic feature within Apple Maps in Ukraine “as a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens.”

In a blog post March 1, Snap, Snapchat’s parent company, said the social platform has stopped running ads in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, will halt ad sales in Russia and Belarus and has pledged $15 million to organizations helping those in Ukraine.

A spokesperson for BMW told the Wall Street Journal March 1 the company “will stop our local production and export for the Russian market until further notice” and said the luxury car maker “condemn[s] the aggression against Ukraine.”

Meta executives said March 1 posts from Russian state media are no longer being recommended to users by Facebook’s algorithm, and soon won’t be by Instagram’s, according to The Verge, days after the company said it restricted access to Russian state media accounts in Ukraine, blocked Russian state media from running ads and earning money from their accounts on the platform and said it took down posts related to a disinformation campaign targeting Ukraine.

DirecTV told Axios on March 1 that the company is “accelerating this year’s contract expiration timeline” of RT America and “will no longer offer their programming effective immediately,” hours after the National Association Of Broadcasters called on broadcasters “to cease carrying any state-sponsored programming with ties to the Russian government or its agents.”

Maersk, one of the world’s biggest shipping lines, suspended deliveries to and from Russia on March 1 apart from food, medical and humanitarian supplies, citing the impact of sanctions.

The Walt Disney Company, which owns Marvel Studios, 20th Century Studios, Pixar and other film properties, announced February 28 it is pausing its release of theatrical films in Russia, including its anticipated Pixar film Turning Red, “given the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the tragic humanitarian crisis.”

A spokesperson for Netflix told the Wall Street Journal February 28 that “given the current situation,” the streaming service has no plans to distribute news, sports and entertainment channels from Russian state media, despite a new Russian regulation that requires organizations with more than 100,000 subscribers to carry them, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Twitter said February 28 it would label tweets that share information from Russian state media accounts, and announced Friday it was temporarily suspending ads in Ukraine and Russia “to ensure critical public safety information is elevated and ads don’t detract from it.”

Etsy announced February 28 it was canceling all balances owed to the company by sellers in Ukraine, including listing and advertising fees, amounting to roughly $4 million, to alleviate financial hardships felt by those in the country.

Oil giant BP divested a roughly 20% stake in Russian oil company Rosneft February 27, and announced the immediate resignation of two BP-nominated Rosneft board members, with BP chair Helge Lund calling Russia’s attack on Ukraine an “act of aggression” and saying BP’s “involvement with Rosneft, a state-owned enterprise, simply cannot continue.”