After Russia began its war against Ukraine, along with numerous sanctions imposed on it by Western countries, many Western brands and companies also exited the Russian market to demonstrate and show that they are, as is often heard from politicians today, ‘on the right side of history.’ For hundreds of Western companies, this meant halting their activities there, which are now coming due in the form of significant losses.
Among the big names, we highlighted the largest from various sectors to see how exiting the Russian market has affected their business.
Regarding clothing companies, Adidas reported a one-time cost of approximately 500 million euros that the company lost after exiting Russia, while the Swedish retail chain H&M estimates that shutting down its Russian operations will cost around 2 billion Swedish kronor, or about 183.57 million dollars.
The owner of Zara reported a charge of 216 million euros after selling all its stores in Russia to the Daher group based in the UAE.
American Levi Strauss&Co announced that it will record costs of 0.15 dollars per share related to the impairment of store assets, property, plant, and equipment.
Automotive Industry
When it comes to the automotive industry, many manufacturers also left Russia, forcing Russians to restart their own production, and there has been talk of the legendary Moskvich as a car that Russians are bringing back to the roads.
One of the automotive giants no longer operating in Russia is American Ford, which wrote off 122 million dollars after halting operations in Russia. In addition to American manufacturers, Japanese Nissan also joined the boycott, announcing in October that it would ‘hand over its Russian business to a state-owned entity for 1 dollar,’ resulting in a loss of about 687 million dollars.
French car manufacturer Renault sold its majority stake in Russia to the largest Russian car manufacturer Avtovaz, but also reported a loss of 867 million euros that accumulated after exiting Russia.
Volkswagen’s truck division Traton announced back in September that the disposal of some assets in Russia would cause a loss of 550 million euros, while Volvo reported a loss of 432 million euros after suspending activities in Russia.
Banks and Insurers
Wall Street giant Citigroup announced in August that it would close its consumer and commercial banking operations in Russia and expects a loss of 170 million in the next 18 months. French bank Crédit Agricole forecasted a loss of around 500 million euros in the first quarter due to its exposure in Russia.
