Infrastructure vendor Nokia said it will exit Russia before the end of this year, while rival Ericsson is in the process of winding down its operations, moves that were spurred in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
A Nokia spokesperson said the company aims to let go of the majority of employees in Russia and vacate all offices by the end of the year. The Finnish vendor will maintain a formal presence in the county until the legal closure of its exit from Russia.
"The only remaining activity we have in Russia is limited maintenance of critical networks fulfilling our contractual and humanitarian obligations," said the spokesperson.
In April, Nokia began moving R&D work outside of the country, stating that “continuing our presence in Russia would not be possible” after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
In a separate statement, Ericsson said it will “gradually wind down business activities in Russia” as it fulfils customer orders in the next few months.
The Swedish vendor has 400 staff in Russia that will face the axe, the company said it will provide with financial and well-being support. Ericsson ceased customer orders in late February when news of the invasion surfaced.
With the two largest vendors departing the Russian market, it leaves Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE as competing suppliers for Russian operators, Kommersant reported.
