As companies vow to sever ties in Russia, a clean break proves complicated

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Breaking up with Russia can be hard to do – quite a bit harder, it turns out, than corporate America wants to admit to the public.

A view of the Moscow Exchange office in Moscow on March 24, as it resumed trading of some shares - but not for foreigners.

Boston Consulting Group, a management consulting firm with offices around the globe, on March 4 released a statement from its chief executive, Christoph Schweizer, saying it was “horrifying to witness the impact of the escalating war,” and that he was personally “heartbroken.” Russia’s military incursions and undemocratic activities created some bumps along the road. But even after Russia took over Crimea in 2014, many companies stayed.

As for what it’s actually stopped doing in Russia, GE said it suspended its aviation business, to comply with sanctions.Banks and financial companies must follow sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury and European regulators banning financial transactions with large Russian institutions and wealthy oligarchs connected to Putin. But other companies are reacting to the Ukraine invasion based on pressure from customers, investors and other stakeholders.

In its March statement, Bain said it would no longer work with any Russian business, whether state-owned or private. But its Moscow office will remain open “for now.” If there’s more than the usual amount of secrecy around some of these corporate moves, Nichols said, there’s reason for it. The Russian government in some cases will target the local workforce if a company leaves, even threatening arrest or launching investigations of individuals, he said.A number of Massachusetts companies do business in Russia but have not made public statements about their plans, including Bruker Corp., a publicly traded life-science instruments maker in Billerica.

 

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No it isn't. It is simple, but it takes courage and strength and sacrifice for the sake of good. I guess their priorities are elsewhere.

Just do it!

Boldly and decisively do the right thing NOW! Figure out the details later. My mom taught me that.

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