Away from Russia? Yes, for a while. Indeed no. What companies do according to Yale
The Yale School of Management in the United States has compiled a list of global companies made up of five categories, corresponding to as many decisions whether to stay (and how) or not in Russia
After the EU sanctions, tension emerges in the wall of European unity, with the Baltic states and Poland calling for more severe measures. Countries dependent on oil imports fear that an energy ban could lead to massive unemployment and fuel shortages. Are cracks emerging in the wall of EU unity? Western European nations are wary of oil and gas sanctions. But Eastern Europeans – excluding Hungary – are calling for more pressure to be exerted on Moscow. Poland and the US want Russia out of the G-20. The summit is October 30-31 in Bali, but Indonesia, India, China and Saudi Arabia will oppose the exclusion of Moscow.
On Wednesday 23, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said his country will not support anti-Russia sanctions that harm its interests, including sanctions against Russian gas and oil. Although the Hungarian government condemned Moscow's attack on Ukraine and supported some sanctions, it has consistently defended its desire to stay out, and refused to join other countries in sending arms to Kiev.
US President Joe Biden will today announce new sanctions against Russia, which will affect political leaders and oligarchs. This was confirmed last night by the American national security adviser, Jake Sullivan , speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One that brought Biden to Brussels.
But sanctions aren't always popular in the United States, with many Republicans with financial ties to the Russian establishment opposing it. Furthermore, the United States has been accused of adopting double standards, demanding that countries cut off trade and financial relations with Russia, while allowing oil consignments to arrive on American shores. "The White House granted a 45-day grace period for oil imports after the announcement, which means that ships carrying fossil fuels from Russia will not be able to dock in US ports (only) from April 22," he reports . The Guardian . While some oil companies have decided to go along with the sanctions, cutting off all trade with Russia.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin's claim to be paid for gas not in dollars or euros, but in rubles, is appreciating the currency and has already seen a further increase of 15 euros Mwh on the bill price. Mario Draghi dixit.
Others do business. Like India "which has decided to buy oil at a discount from Russia", writes the Indian News9 .
More significantly, the sanctions were met with mixed reactions among Western companies, many of which continued to work with Moscow. Except for sudden reversals, as the French Renault did , after the Ukrainian president's earshot on Wednesday 23 at the Parliament in Paris.
The Yale School of Management in the United States has compiled a list of companies with five categories:
1) Clean Break: Companies that completely block Russian commitments / leave Russia
2) Suspension: companies that temporarily reduce operations
3) Scaling back: companies that scale down some commercial operations while others continue
4) Buying time: companies that postpone future investments / development / marketing, already planned, while continuing substantial activities
5) Digging in: companies that challenge requests to exit / reduce activities
Here is the complete list of Yale, updated as of March 24.
In the first category of companies (which has 169), of those that have withdrawn from Russia, there are some international giants such as Accenture, Airbnb, AMD, Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, Authentic Brand Group – Reebok, Autodesk, Avid, Baker McKenzie , Blackrock, Bose, BP, British American Tobacco, Coursera, Daimler, Deloitte, eBay, Eurovision, Exxon, FIFA, Formula 1, Grammarly, international federations for Boxing, Cycling, Ice Hockey, Skating, Tennis and Weightlifting, KPMG, McKinsey, Moody's, Nasdaq, Netflix, Omnicom, OneWeb, PwC, S&P, Rolex, Shell, Spotify, Stanley Black & Decker, TripAdvisor, Uber and WeWork.
The second category of companies (totaling 190) among those that have suspended their activity, and keep the possibility of return open, includes : 3M, Adidas, Adobe, Akamai, Alphabet, Amazon, American Express, Amway, Apple, Aston Martin, Atlas Copco, Bentley, Boeing, Bridgestone Tire, Burberry, Burger King, Canon, Chanel, Citi, Cisco, Coca Cola, Cogent, Dassault Aviation, Dell, Deutsche Bank, DHL, Diageo, Discover, Disney, Ericson, FedEx, Ferrari, Ford, Herbalife, Honda, Honeywell, H&M, HP, Heineken, Hermes, Herbalife, Hyundai, IBM, Ikea, Intel, Iveco, JCB, Komatsu, LG Electronics, Levi Strauss, L'Oreal, Mastercard, Maersk, Marks & Spencer, McDonald's, Mercedes Benz, Microsoft, Mothercare, Nike, Nissan, Nokia, Nvidia, Oracle, Panasonic, Paypal, Prada, Puma, Panasonic, Raytheon, Ralph Lauren, Rolls Royce, Samsung, Skoda, Sony, Timken, Toyota, Twitter (in part), Volkswagen, Volvo and Xerox. A few hours ago also Renault. The Chinese social network, TikTok, has suspended the streaming and download of new content in Russia after the law approved by Moscow which increases the penalties for alleged fake news on the conflict.
The third list of 30 companies that are downsizing current operations includes Allianz, BNP Paribas, Carlsberg, Coinbase, Dow, GE, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan close deals in Russia but buy Russian debt, HSBC, Kellogg, Michelin Tire, Pepsi and Whirlpool.
The fourth group of 54 companies that have taken time to suspend investment and development include Abbott Labs, Accor, Baker Hughes, BASF, Bayer, Barilla, Cargill, Colgate-Palmolive, Coty, Danone, GlaxoSmithKline, Haliburton, Hyatt, Hilton, Johnson & Johnson, Marriott, Merck, Nestle, Otis, Pirelli, Pfizer, Phillip Morris, Procter & Gamble, Sanofi, Snyer Electric, Siemens and Unilever, Total Energies.
In the fifth list of 38 companies that refused to leave Russia, we find : Acer, AstraZeneca (250 employees and manufacturing plant in Kaluga), Asus, Auchan – Retail ($ 3.5 billion in revenue from Russia), Credit Suisse (1 billion net exposure), Decathlon (at least 50 stores in Russia, revenue of $ 300 million), Deutsche Telekom (2,000 employees in Russia), Switzerland's Geberit, Germany's Knauf, American Koch Industries, Emirates Airlines , the American FM Global (has deep relationships with Ingosstrakh, a major Russian insurance company), Glencore (an Anglo-Swiss multinational mining and commodity trading company) which has stakes in Rosneft (Rosneft is an oil company owned by the majority of the Russian government), Metro and Société Générale (among the top institutions in the ranking by capitalization of banking groups in the euro zone). Despite Ukrainian criticism, the French Leroy Merlin (4 billion in revenues from Russia) and Auchan (3.5 billion in revenues) remain.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/via-dalla-russia-si-per-un-po-anzi-no-cosa-fanno-le-societa-secondo-yale/ on Thu, 24 Mar 2022 14:12:28 +0000.