Western companies are getting into ever greater difficulties if they hold on to their business in Russia. The attack on Ukraine at the end of February already put a lot of pressure on the decision-makers to position themselves on how to deal with the aggressor. Those who subsequently withdrew from Russia sometimes paid a high price. The Dax group Henkel is currently selling its production facilities, probably just as far below market value as Renault or Nissan. Siemens was already building a telegraph network in Russia in the mid-19th century. On the occasion of the company’s 175th birthday, founder heiress Nathalie von Siemens called the end of the long commitment to Russia painful but correct this week.
After all, what has happened since the partial mobilization in September definitely makes a mockery of German standards of good corporate management. In the turmoil of the first days of the war, Western managers rightly pointed out their responsibility towards their Russian personnel, but this argument has long since lost its clout. A limit has been crossed when employers deliver lists of names of “dispensable employees” to the military replacement offices in order to identify supplies for the front. Even tactical tricks such as delaying the flow of information or relocating to the home office are not a long-term solution, especially since it often involves production staff who cannot escape to their own four walls from the officials.