Deloitte and EY, two of the world’s largest accounting firms, announced on Monday that they would pull out of Russia, joining the other so-called Big Four firms, KPMG International and PwC, which said on Sunday that they would quit the country after its invasion of Ukraine.
These groups are structured as partnerships of local firms, so the businesses in Russia can continue to operate, the accounting firms said, but will no longer be a part of their umbrella networks.
“The EY global organization will no longer serve Russian government clients, state-owned enterprises or sanctioned entities or individuals anywhere in the world,” EY said in a statement on LinkedIn. It has more than 4,700 workers in its network in Russia, it said. Deloitte has about 3,000 professionals in Russia and Belarus, the company’s chief executive, Punit Renjen, said in a statement posted on the company’s website.
KPMG said it had more than 4,500 people working in Russia and Belarus, while PwC said it had 3,700 workers in Russia.
The moves are the latest of many major Western companies to suspend or sell their operations in Russia. (The Yale School of Management is keeping a list of these actions that it updates daily.) Here is a selection of other moves from the past week or so:
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Finance: American Express, Mastercard and Visa said on Sunday that they would suspend operations in Russia, meaning that their branded cards issued by Russian banks would not work in other countries and cards issued elsewhere would not work for purchases in Russia.
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Entertainment: Netflix said on Sunday that it would suspend its service in Russia, days after it said it would halt future projects in the country, including acquisitions. The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. said last week that they would pause the release of movies in the country.
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Manufacturing: Last week, Boeing and Ford Motor said they would suspended operations in Russia, while Volvo halted the sales of its cars there.
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Energy: BP, Exxon Mobil and Shell, all major investors in Russia’s most important industry, announced recently that they would sell their operations in the country.
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Retail: The French luxury giants LVMH and Hermès said on Friday that they would temporarily close their stores in Russia, after similar moves from Ikea and TJX, the owner of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls.
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Tech: Apple and Microsoft said they had paused the sales of its products in Russia, and Google’s YouTube has blocked advertising from Russian state-owned media. And on Monday, IBM said it had suspended all business in Russia.
