By
Darya Rudz
October 26th, 2023
While Russia battles sanctions, many corporations around the world have launched humanitarian campaigns to support the Ukrainian government and families directly affected by the ongoing war.
Danish shipping giant AP Moeller Maersk (CPH: MAERSK-B) has temporarily cut ties with Russia in protest against the country’s seemingly unprovoked attacks on Ukraine. As reported by Business Times, the company said the suspension of products being shipped to Russia will not include foodstuffs, medical and humanitarian supplies.
“As the stability and safety of our operations are already being directly and indirectly impacted by sanctions, new Maersk bookings within ocean and inland to and from Russia will be temporarily suspended,” Maersk said in a statement.
Maersk is by far the largest shipping company in the world, and its operations encompass both ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Part of the company’s container shipping routes enlists some core Russian ports and cities including St Petersburg and Kaliningrad in the Baltic Sea, Novorossiysk in the Black Sea, and Vladivostok and Vostochny on Russia’s east coast. Goods movement to all of these regions will be halted as the company confirmed.
“I would expect to see a slew of similar announcements over the next few days,” Sonia Kowal, president of Zevin Asset Management in Boston, said on Monday, adding that divestment by Norway’s big sovereign wealth fund would support the move.
Profiling Sanctions on Russia Beyond the Shipping Halt by Maersk
Maersk is one of the many companies that has made pronounced and vocal efforts to halt the business relationships they have with Russia, as the Western sanction on Russia continues to rise each day.
Earlier this week, British energy giant BP Plc (NYSE: BP) sold its 19.75% stake in Rosneft, one of the major Russia-owned oil companies with which it has worked for about 30 years. The severance of ties with Rosneft seems to be the beginning of related moves from oil firms around the world as another British energy company, Shell Plc (LON: SHEL) also revealed it would exit all of its business operations in Russia including a stake in a major liquefied natural gas plant.
Beyond energy firms, truck manufacturers, Volvo AB (STO: VOLV-B) has also suspended its manufacturing activities in Russia as well as cut sales of its products to the country. Additionally, FlexPool, an Ethereum mining pool has not just cut Russian customers, but it has called on other crypto industry players to do the same.
The targeted sanctions against Russia have also expanded to the nation’s financial institutions being cut off from the SWIFT Network as the effort to cut off Russia from Western financing intensifies. While the sanctions from governments continue to roll in, independent companies are also projected to join in mounting pressure on Russia to rethink its aggressive approach to solving the diplomatic strain with Ukraine.
While Russia battles sanctions, many corporations around the world have launched humanitarian campaigns to support the Ukrainian government and families directly affected by the ongoing war.