Siemens to discontinue business in Russia
After the outbreak of the war, Siemens stopped all new business with and international deliveries to Russia and Belarus. The comprehensive international sanctions and the current and potential countermeasures are affecting the company’s business activities in Russia – especially its railway service and maintenance business. For companies that are mainly active in B2B business, the decision to completely exit a region is more difficult to make than for companies that sell consumer goods. The reason: contracts for the maintenance of industrial plants and trains are concluded for many years, sometimes decades.
The technology group had already announced in early March that it no longer planned to do new business with Russia. But the long-term service contracts were to continue to be fulfilled for the time being. Now, however, it said it planned to discontinue the business – including the service and maintenance business. “This decision was not easy for us, because we have a duty of care towards our employees and long-standing customer relationships in this market,” said Roland Busch, CEO of Siemens AG.
“We condemn the war in Ukraine and have decided to end our industrial business activities in Russia in an orderly process,” said Busch. “This decision was not easy for us, as we have a duty of care to our employees and long-standing customer relationships in a market where we have been operating for around 170 years. We are currently assessing the impact on our workforce and will continue to support them to the best of our ability. At the same time, we are providing humanitarian assistance to our colleagues in Ukraine, as well as to the Ukrainian people, and we join the international community in calling for peace.”
Siemens businesses will manage the wind-down of their operations in an orderly process – in line with regulatory requirements and international sanctions. Siemens has been operating in Russia since 1852 and employs a low four-digit number of people there.
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