Nokia said Tuesday it’s pulling its business operations out of Russia over the Ukraine invasion. The news comes a day after Ericsson said it would exit the country as well.
Nokia stopped deliveries to Russia over the last few weeks, suspended new deliveries and moved its “limited R&D” activities out of Russia. “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 communications manufacturer said.
“During this process our priority continues to be the safety and wellbeing of our employees,” the company said. “For humanitarian reasons, Western governments have expressed concerns about the risk of critical telecommunication network infrastructure in Russia failing. They have also emphasized the importance of ensuring the continued flow of information and access to the internet which provides outside perspectives to the Russian people,” the company stated.
That’s why, as Nokia leaves, it will aim to provide support to maintain communication networks and is applying for the relevant licenses to enable this support in compliance with current sanctions. The company calls this, “the most responsible course of action to take” as it exits the Russian market.
Regarding the financial impact of the decision, Russia accounted for less than two percent of Nokia’s net sales in 2021. “Considering the strong demand we see in other regions – we do not expect this decision to impact our ability to achieve our 2022 outlook” or sequential quarterly results. “We expect this decision to lead to a provision in Q1 of approximately [US $108.9 million] which will impact our reported but not comparable financials,” said Nokia.
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