Since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out, many tech companies have decided to leave the Russian market. A move that goes hand in hand with the economic sanctions that many Western countries have inflicted on the nation led by Vladimir Putin. Below you will find the updated list of all the companies that have decided to leave the country.
Here is the complete list of companies that have left the Russian market
Social
Russia has always been a controversial protagonist in the field of fake news, a phenomenon that has intensified in these days of conflict with Ukraine. For this, practically all Western social platforms and have not decided to put a stop to it, in one way or another. Starting with Meta and its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, which has raised the level of security and monitoring of published content. It also restricted access to state media accounts such as RT, Sputnik, and Ria Novosti and banned them from posting advertisements. In response, Facebook was blocked in Russia by the regulator Roskomnadzor.
The same fate befell Twitter, which has suspended advertisements in Russia and Ukraine to avoid the promotion of fake news and which monitors the most sensitive accounts (politicians and journalists above all). In the world of video streaming, Twitch has suspended payments from users in Russia.
Google has also decided to act, blocking the monetization on YouTube to state channels such as the aforementioned RT, removing them from the “Recommended” videos and blocking it completely in Ukraine. In addition to deleting videos and accounts created ad hoc, Google has proceeded to limit Maps in Ukraine, deactivating features such as real-time traffic and the number of visits per hour. Reviews for clubs in Russia have also been suspended to prevent them from being studded with negative reviews as retaliation. Last but not least, the blocking of the Google Ads online advertising platform in Russia.
While remaining available, Snapchat has announced that it will control the circulation of fake news, block advertising from Russian and Belarusian companies and provide $ 15 million in humanitarian aid. The Snap Map function, used to show how many users share in certain geographic areas, was also limited in Ukraine. Following the squeeze on social media, TikTok also decided to act, blocking the publication of content and direct from Russia. Among the apps that have been removed from Russia, we also find the one for Bumble appointments.
App store
Reality app stores like Google, Apple and Microsoft have decided to remove various Russian state media apps.
Services and platforms
In addition to social media, there are other tech companies that have decided to put a stop to their activities in Russia. For example, Spotify, has decided to suspend its streaming service. But also Amazon, which has suspended the shipment of its products, stopped access to Prime Video in Russia and closed the registration of new AWS accounts.
Also on the list is Airbnb, which has announced that it is working with various Hosts to offer free accommodation for 100,000 refugees from Ukraine. Still, in the context of holidays, Booking has also decided to block operations in Russia. Moving on, Netflix has decided to stop all original content projects and acquisitions in Russia. Even Adobe, Oracle, and SAPI have announced the cessation of sales of products and services in the nation.
Also, bad blow to the world of payments, starting with Paypal’s decision to suspend its services in Russia, as decided by Apple Pay and Google Pay (in addition to VISA and MasterCard). Looking at the world of cryptocurrencies, Coinbase has blocked over 25,000 accounts apparently involved in circumventing sanctions imposed on Russia.
Chipmaker
Another very sensitive sector is that of chipmaking, that is the engineering and especially the printing of semiconductors. In this sense, TSMC has announced that it supports the decision of the United States to block the export of components to Russia. Together with the Taiwanese chipmaker, there are also the American Qualcomm, Intel, AMD and GlobalFoundries, which have stopped their respective supplies.
PC, hardware and software
If you always look at the hardware world (but not only), Microsoft has also decided to block the sales of all its products and services in Russia. The company also announced that it is working alongside Ukraine to support Ukraine with its technologies to support the delicate situation. In addition, Russian state media content is blocked on Microsoft Start, Bing and MSN.
When it comes to cameras, Fujitsu has confirmed that it has stopped all its orders to Russia, both for goods and services. But there is also IBM, the IT giant that has suspended all of its businesses in the nation, as well as NVIDIA, Cisco, Oracle and Ericsson.
As for the software market, Slack announced that it has revoked access to Russian companies from its platform.
Smartphone
When it comes to smartphones, the first company to move was Apple, which announced the blocking of the sale of its products in Russia. It then blocked its Apple Pay and Apple Maps services, for the same reasons mentioned above. Apple was followed by historic rival Samsung, which announced it had suspended all shipments to Russia and had financially supported Ukrainian refugees.
The group is also joined by Nokia and Ericsson, with the interruption of the provision of their services for operators in Russia such as MTS, Vimpelcom, Megafon and Tele2. Additionally, HMD Global (the company that makes Nokia smartphones) has confirmed that it will stop exporting phones to Russia.
Video games
When it comes to the technology market, it is impossible not to talk about video games. In this regard, Activision Blizzard (owned by Microsoft) and CD PROJEKT RED have confirmed that they have blocked the sale of their respective games in Russia. EA will do the same as well, as well as eliminate the Russian national team and the nation’s teams from FIFA and NHL games. Also blocking game sales in Russia are Epic Games, Ubisoft and Take-Two.
Riot Games has chosen to block the Valorant Champions Tour planned in Russia and WePlay Holding and DMarket have blocked all partnerships started in the nation. It is not confirmed yet, but it also appears that the launch of the new Gran Turismo 7 has been suspended in Russia.
Even John Romero, one of the historical personalities behind the creation of DOOM, has released a new level for DOOM 2 (remember that it is a game from 1994!); the level is called One Humanity and all proceeds will go to support refugees and relief efforts in Ukraine. If you are interested, you can buy it for € 5 from the official website.
There are many development companies that have decided to give economic support to the situation in Ukraine. These include CD PROJEKT RED and its GOG store, Pokémon Company, Bungie, Ubisoft, GSC Game World, Beetlewig, Wargaming and 11 Bit Studios.
You are definitely aware of what is happening in Ukraine right now. Russia declare war not for Ukraine but for all civilized world. If you support human values, you should live the Russian market! pic.twitter.com/tnQr13BsSv
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 2, 2022
Meanwhile, PlayStation and Xbox have halted their sales in Russia following pressure from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov. In addition, Nintendo has put its e-shop in Russia into maintenance mode, preventing Russians from buying new games online.
What is China doing?
As you have read in recent days, China is in a complicated situation, halfway between its historically Russia and the nations that are sanctioning it. Putting aside the purely political question, how many companies have moved to block their operations in Russia? At the moment very few: in addition to the aforementioned TikTok , Lenovo would have blocked the supplies of products in Russia, even if an official statement is missing. Then there is Didi, the Chinese Uber, which announced its withdrawal from Russia even before starting to operate (the debut was scheduled for this 2022).
As for the smartphone market, for the moment no brand has exposed itself in this sense. In China, there is the chipmaker SMIC, which however also uses US-derived technologies and therefore could risk sanctions if it supplies semiconductors to Russia. At the same time, Huawei and ZTE, which after the US ban could find themselves blocked from operating normally in Russia. Other brands such as Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo and Honor have not yet pronounced themselves on the subject.
Let’s not forget the automotive market, a highly technological sector, especially for China which focuses heavily on the world of EV cars. From this point of view, Great Wall Motor and BYD have also been selling in Russia for some years and it will be necessary to understand whether or not they will stop.