Mobile phone giant Nokia to exit Russia

The telecommunication company said in a statement, "It has been clear for Nokia since the early days of the invasion of Ukraine that continuing our presence in Russia would not be possible."

The company said they are moving their limited research and development activities out of Russia.

"Over the last weeks we have suspended deliveries, stopped new business and are moving our limited R&D activities out of Russia. We can now announce we will exit the Russian market. During this process our priority continues to be the safety and well being of our employees," it said.

"For humanitarian reasons, Western governments have expressed concerns about the risk of critical telecommunication network infrastructure in Russia failing. They have also emphasised the importance of ensuring the continued flow of information and access to the internet which provides outside perspectives to the Russian people. Therefore, as we exit we will aim to provide the necessary support to maintain the networks and are applying for the relevant licenses to enable this support in compliance with current sanctions," the company said.

The company said, "This is the most responsible course of action for Nokia to take as we exit the Russian market."

Nokia said that Russia accounted for less than 2 per cent of their net sales in the past year.

"Regarding the financial impact of the decision, Russia accounted for less than 2 per cent of our net sales in 2021," read the statement.

"Considering the strong demand we see in other regions – we do not expect this decision to impact our ability to achieve our 2022 outlook provided in the Nokia financial report for Q4 and full year 2021 issued on February 3, 2022. We expect this decision to lead to a provision in Q1 of approximately €100m which will impact our reported but not comparable financials," the statement read.

The ongoing conflict between the Russia-Ukraine started on February 24 when Moscow launched a full-scale in invasion of the country.

According to The New York Times, Apple and Microsoft have also halted their sales, Intel suspended its all operations, LG electronics and Sony, which makes the PlayStation video game console, stopped their products' shipments among others electronic companies which pledged to stop their business activities Russia.