Nike has announced it will make a full exit from Russia, just three months after suspending its operations following the invasion of Ukraine in February. The multinational corporation had halted online orders and simultaneously closed down all of its stores around the country back in March for the foreseeable future, but a new statement by Nike declares that the company has decided to scrap doing business with Russia entirely.
“Nike has made the decision to leave the Russian marketplace. Our priority is to ensure we are fully supporting our employees while we responsibly scale down our operations over the coming months,” Nike said in an emailed statement, per Reuters. Their decision comes just weeks after McDonald’s was permanently exiting Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, before Starbucks announced they were following suit, shutting down 130 of its nationwide stores.
Nike has decided to completely withdraw from the Russian market, according to @Reuters.
The company made this decision three months after the termination of its activities in Russia.
Just do it! #StopRussiaNow
— UkraineWorld (@ukraine_world) June 23, 2022
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Shops run by local sportswear partners had continued selling Nike-branded products, but given that the firm has now announced it is severing its business relationship with Russia altogether, it’s believed that these stores will have to stop selling any Nike items moving forward. There’s no denying that Russia has grown increasingly economically isolated in the past few months, as more companies are choosing to stop doing business with them. Russia is now reportedly working on legislation that could punish foreign companies such as Nike seeking to leave, which would allow the government to seize their assets and impose penalties.
In Russia alone, Nike was operating from just over 50 stores, with a third of those already closed. Signs were already pointing at a possible leave for the company last month when they announced its agreement with Russia’s largest franchisee, which hosted 37 Nike stores, had officially been terminated.
Starbucks said it decided to close its 130 stores and no longer have a brand presence in Russia. Starbucks said it will continue to pay its nearly 2,000 Russian employees for six months and help them transition to new jobs.
Starbucks Leaving Russian Market, Shutting 130 Stores pic.twitter.com/1JhfD9aB8E— Gregory Stewart (@Gregory73134325) June 23, 2022
Nike has previously revealed that Russia and Ukraine together had only accounted for less than 1% of the company’s overall revenue, which presumably made the decision to leave that much easier. Technology company Cisco has since said that they are also cutting ties with Russia on Thursday, with a spokesperson saying it had “made the decision to begin an orderly wind-down of our business in Russia and Belarus.”
“Cisco remains committed to using all its resources to help our employees, the institutions and people of Ukraine, and our customers and partners during this challenging time.”
Business operations had already been halted in the country back in March, costing the company a whopping $200 million from sales and services.