Swedish telecom giant Ericsson announced on Monday that it was suspending all operations in Russia for an indefinite period of time due to the war in Ukraine.
The group already reported at the end of February that it was ending its supplies to Russia, following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
“In light of recent events and European Union sanctions, the company will suspend all its affected activities with customers in Russia indefinitely,” Ericsson said in a statement.
The company added that it committed “to customers and partners in relation to the indefinite suspension of the affected activities”.
Hundreds of Western companies, from Ikea to Coca-Cola to McDonald's or Inditex, ceased their activities in Russia since the start of their offensive in Ukraine.
Ericsson has nearly 600 employees in Russia and is a “major supplier to the largest operator MTS and the fourth operator Tele2,” a company spokeswoman told AFP, adding that, together with Ukraine, Russia accounts for less than 2% of revenue.
Russia's employees will be on low pay, the company said.
As a result, the equipment manufacturer said it would record a provision of 900 million SEK (95 million dollars, 87 million euros) for the first quarter of 2022 for “impairment of assets and other exceptional costs”, although staff layoff costs were not included.
Ericsson plans to release its first quarter results on April 14.
(With information from AFP)
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