Boycott of Russia and Belarus

A 2022 boycott of Russia and Belarus barring their participation in the global economic and social community spontaneously formed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Banking and finance

• The World Bank announced that it had stopped all activities in Russia and Belarus as of 2 March. It stated that it had not approved any new loans or investments to Russia since 2014 and Belarus since mid-2020.
• Credit card companies Mastercard and Visa blocked transactions linked to multiple Russian institutions on 1 March. Russia makes up about 4% of Mastercard's and Visa's net revenue for 2021.
• Online payment company PayPal stopped accepting new users in Russia and blocked transactions by some users and banks in Russia as of 2 March.
• New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order on 27 February, directing all New York State agencies and authorities to review and divest public funds from Russia. On 2 March, the state's Department of Financial Services expedited the procurement of blockchain analytics technology, allowing it to detect exposure of virtual currency businesses to sanctioned individuals.
• On 28 February, Australia's Future Fund announced that it would dump all Russian assets, worth A$200m, while the New South Wales government would dump A$75m of Russian assets from its NSW Generations Fund.
• The Australian Government called on superannuation companies to dump all of its Russian assets. Aware Super dumped A$50m in Russian assets on 1 March while Australian Retirement Trust dumped A$133m in Russian assets on 3 March.
• Norway's Government Pension Fund of Norway announced that it will divest its Russian assets from 47 companies, including Sberbank, Gazprom and Lukoil, worth 25 billion crowns in 2021. However, it announced that its value is likely worth only 2.5 billion crowns and they were "pretty much written off".
• Investment companies Legal & General, Abrdn, and National Employment Savings Trust sold all their Russian stocks and bonds.
• Commodities trading company Trafigura froze all Russian investments, including its share in Rosneft led project Vostok Oil on 2 March.
• Citigroup announced it wanted to sell its US$10bn exposure to Russian loans, government debt, and other assets on 28 February.
• The Church of England announced on 25 February that it will sell £20m in Russian holdings and banned any further investment in Russia, calling it an "immoral flood of corrupt money".
• The Croatian Post Bank (HPB) purchased the Croatian subsidiary of Sberbank for 71m kuna and renamed it to Nova hrvatska banka ("New Croatian Bank") on 2 March.
• Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay no longer work in Russia due to sanctions against numerous Russian banks.

Education, research and science

• The German Research Foundation froze all scientific collaboration with Russia.
• The UK science minister announced a review of all research funding from the UK government to Russian beneficiaries.
• The European Commission suspended all payments to Russian institutions involved in EU-funded research projects.
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology ended its relationship with the Skolkovo Foundation.
• The International Mathematical Union moved the 2022 International Congress of Mathematicians online; it was originally scheduled to be held in Saint Petersburg.
• The Journal of Molecular Structure stopped considering manuscripts submitted by scientists at Russian institutions.
• Space agency NASA explored ways to keep the International Space Station in orbit without Russia. It noted that Northrop Grumman had offered reboost capability and suggested that SpaceX could help.
• The European Space Agency delayed ExoMars, a joint Europe-Russian mission to send a rover to Mars. Russia was set to provide the Kazachok lander and the mission was intended to launch on a Russian Proton rocket.
• Satellite company OneWeb suspended all launches from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome and reviewed all projects involving Russian collaboration.

Energy

• ExxonMobil cut business ties with Russia and announced that they will not be investing in new developments in the country.
• BP and Equinor announced they were pulling back from Russian developments. Shell made a similar announcement, including its support of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.
• Centrica announced it will exit gas supply agreements with Russia.

Entertainment

• Disney, Warner Bros., Sony, Paramount, and Universal announced they would pause theatrical releases in Russia, including the release of The Batman, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Turning Red.
• Netflix announced that it would not add 20 Russian channels to their service, despite a requirement to do so under Russian law.
• DirecTV stopped distribution of Russian-controlled television network RT America, sister network to RT.
• Roku, Inc removed Russian-controlled television network RT from its stores in the US and Europe.
• TikTok restricted access to Russian state media accounts in the European Union.
• The Cannes Film Festival and Venice Film Festival stated that Russian delegation will not be welcome at its events.
• The Glasgow Film Festival dropped two Russian films from its lineup, No Looking Back and The Execution, both receiving Russian funding.
• The National Association of Television Program Executives banned Russian companies from its international television trade fair in Hungary.
• The European Film Academy boycotted all Russian films.
• BBC Studios, All3Media and ITV Studios stopped doing business with Russia, including its licensing of shows to Russian customers.
• The European Broadcasting Union excluded Russia from participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, with the organizers saying that its inclusion could "bring the competition into disrepute".
• Spotify closed its Russian office and removed all content from Russian state-owned media.
• Several orchestras and opera houses, including the Royal Opera House, Metropolitan Opera, and Vienna Philharmonic, cut ties with Russian performers who had voiced support for Putin, including soprano Anna Netrebko, conductor Valery Gergiev, and the Bolshoi Theatre.
• WWE terminates broadcast partnership with Russian television network Match and shut down the WWE Network in Russia.
• Linus Media Group ceased working with Russian and Belarusian entities and stopped shipping merchandise from their store to those countries.
• The Fédération Internationale Féline (International Cat Federation) banned cats bred in Russia or owned by Russians from competitions until the end of May.

Esports and electronic games

• Ukraine based esport organisation NAVI severed partnership with Russian esport organisation ESForce. Companies under ESForce Holding includes RuHub, Epic Esports Events, Cybersport.ru and Virtus.pro.
• BLAST Premier canceled upcoming tournament qualifier for the CIS region and banned Russian-based teams from attending its events for the "foreseeable future".
• Electronic Arts removed the Russian national team from its games FIFA 22, FIFA Mobile, and FIFA Online, and removed the Russian and Belarusian teams from NHL 22. They also halted sales of games in both Russia and Belarus.
• Game developer CD Projekt cut off sales for all of its products to Russia and Belarus, including Cyberpunk 2077 and all games on GOG.com.
• Nintendo placed the Nintendo eShop for Russia into maintenance mode, which disabled the ability to make purchases or downloads for Nintendo Switch digital games, DLC, or microtransactions.
• Sony Interactive Entertainment pulled Gran Turismo 7 from digital and physical sale in Russia and postponed its release in the Russian market until further notice.

Food and beverage

• In Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia most supermarkets removed Russian and Belarusian products, such as food, drinks, magazines, and newspapers, with Coop, Rimi, Maxima, and Barbora being the most notable supermarket chains to join the boycott.
• In Canada, the liquor control boards of several provinces, including the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, the Société des alcools du Québec, the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation, the Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corporation, and the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation, were ordered to remove Russian alcohol products from retail stores. The government of British Columbia ceased the import of Russian liquor products, and the Liquor Control Board of Ontario announced the removal of Russian liquor from all 679 liquor retailers within its jurisdiction.
• In the United States, politicians in Ohio, New Hampshire, and Utah placed legal restrictions on the sale of Russian liquor, and many bars, restaurants, and liquor retailers have removed Russian brands from their selections voluntarily, with some supporting Ukrainian liquors in a further show of solidarity with Ukraine. The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority pulled Russian-sourced vodka from its stores and places them into storage. Utah and New Hampshire signs executive orders removing all Russian produced and Russian-branded alcohol from its stores. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board no longer sells nor procures Russian products.
• The Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian alcohol monopolies, Alko, Systembolaget and Vinmonopolet, stopped the sale of Russian alcoholic beverages.
• Finland's two main retailers, S-Group and Kesko, and Norway's biggest retailer group Norgesgruppen (operating Meny, Kiwi, Joker and Spar grocery stores) removed Russian goods from their shelves.
• In Denmark, most supermarkets removed all Russian products.
• Fonterra, one of the world's largest dairy producers from New Zealand, suspended shipments of all its dairy products to Russia.
• Australian retailers such as ALDI, Coles Group, and Endeavour Group (Dan Murphys, BWS) removes all Russian made alcohol from its stores and services. Metcash stops stocking all Russian made products.
• Diageo paused all exports of its spirits to Russia.
• British food retailers Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Aldi and the Co-op have remove all Russian-made spirits from their shelves.

Goods

• Nike halted all online sales in Russia, stating it could not guarantee delivery of products.
• Adidas suspended its partnership with the Russian Football Union.
• Clothing retailers H&M and Burberry paused all sales in Russia.
• Online luxury e-commerce platforms YOOX Net-a-Porter Group and Farfetch suspended delivery in the country.
• British online fashion retailers ASOS and Boohoo.com suspended sales in Russia.
• Samsung suspended shipments to Russia and is donating $6,000,000 in aid.
• Dell paused sales of all its products to Russia.
• Semiconductor manufacturers TSMC, GlobalFoundries, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices halted sales to Russia and third parties that supplied to Russia. Russian companies that design their own chips such as Baikal CPU, MCST, Yadro and STC Module are manufactured by TSMC, which cut off Russia's access to semiconductors.
• Car manufacturers Ford, General Motors, Jaguar, Volvo and Renault suspended all sales and operations in Russia. Honda suspended all exports to Russia and Toyota announced it halted production at its plant in Saint Petersburg and ceased all shipments to Russia. Mazda suspended shipments of parts to Russia while Mitsubishi Motors assessed the risk of operating in Russia. Volkswagen suspended production at Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod sites and also stopped exports to Russia.
• Truck manufacturer Daimler Truck Holding AG discontinued business activities in Russia and reviewed ties with Kamaz.
• Motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson suspended all business in Russia.
• Motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha Motor Company suspended cycling exports in Russia.
• Audio equipment manufacturer Yamaha Corporation suspended exports and paused operations in Russia.
• Equipment manufacturer JCB paused all operations, including the export of machines and spare parts.
• IKEA closed stores in Russia.
• Nokia stopped deliveries to Russia.
• British clothing retailer Marks & Spencer has stopped shipments to its Russian franchise stores, and is donating £500 000 ($666,000, €605 000) to UNHCR.

Services

• International law firms White & Case, Baker McKenzie, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius reviewed and ended Russian-related operations and clients.
• US-based law firms Sidley Austin and Venable LLP terminated registrations to lobby in Washington for sanctioned financial institutions.
• Consulting company KPMG ended some Russian client relationships.
• Technology consulting firm Accenture discontinued all its Russian business affecting about 2,300 Russian employees.

Shipping

• UPS and FedEx announced that they would halt shipments to Russia and Ukraine.
• Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and Ocean Network Express halted all container shipping to Russia, except for basic food products, medicine and humanitarian aid. These are five of the six largest container shipping companies in the world. The sixth largest carrier is the Chinese company COSCO which continues to ship to Russia.

Sport

• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) called upon international sporting federations to either move or cancel any sports events planned in Russia or Belarus. It recommended that Belarusian and Russian nationals be allowed to compete only as neutral athletes or teams. Russian and Belarusian para-athletes were banned from the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing following threats of boycotts by other nations.
• World Archery Federation, World Athletics, the International Biathlon Union, the Union Cycliste Internationale, the Badminton World Federation, the International Canoe Federation, International Modern Pentathlon Union, World Rowing Federation, World Rugby, International Surfing Association, Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, and the International Gymnastics Federation banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in their events, in line with the IOC's decision.
• UEFA, the European governing body for football, decided to relocate the Champions League final from Saint Petersburg to Saint-Denis, France, after a meeting of the body's executive committee. The national football teams of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Sweden refused to play against Russia. On 27 February, FIFA announced that Russian teams would have to play as "Football Union of Russia", without flags or anthems; moreover, any "home" games would be played at a neutral site without fans. On 28 February, after criticism for its decision and a prospect of boycotts by multiple countries, FIFA, joined by UEFA, went further and indefinitely suspended Russian teams from playing international football. On 4 March, Russia appealed this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
• Formula One called off the 2022 Russian Grand Prix, with world champions Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen calling it "wrong" to race in the country. It also canceled its contract with the promoter for races in Russia, which ran through 2025.
• The International Judo Federation suspended President Putin's status as "Honorary President and Ambassador of the International Judo Federation".
• The National Hockey League announced that it was suspending all Russian business relationships, pausing Russian language websites, and would not host future competitions in Russia. The International Ice Hockey Federation suspended all Russian and Belarusian national and club teams from its competitions and stripped Russia of hosting rights for the 2023 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
• Finland-based Jokerit withdrew from the 2021–22 playoffs in Russia's top-tier Kontinental Hockey League, and then from the league entirely; Latvia-based Dinamo Riga subsequently withdrew from the league as well.
• The International Hockey Federation, which governs field hockey, decided to exclude Russia from the 2022 Women's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup in South Africa.
• The International Chess Federation (FIDE) banned Russian and Belarusian flags from international chess events, ended sponsorships with Russian and Belarusian sanctioned companies, and opened bids to other countries to host the 44th Chess Olympiad. Furthermore, it suspended Anatoly Karpov's title of FIDE Ambassador for Life.
• FC Schalke 04 ended its sponsorship deal with Russian state-controlled oil and gas company Gazprom.
• FINA, the governing body for aquatic sports, withdrew the FINA Order awarded to Vladimir Putin in 2014. FINA announced athletes will not be allowed to compete for Russia or Belarus. It suspended the FINA Water Polo World League scheduled to take place in Saint Petersburg on 8 March, as well as both the FINA Diving World Series and FINA Artistic Swimming World Series, scheduled to take place in Kazan in April. The FINA World Junior Swimming Championships scheduled for August was cancelled. FINA looks to reschedule all other events that were set to take place in Russia over the next year.
• The Euroleague Basketball suspended participation of Russian teams in both the 2021–22 EuroLeague (CSKA Moscow, UNICS Kazan, Zenit Saint Petersburg) and the 2021–22 EuroCup (Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar).
• FIBA, the international governing body for basketball, suspended participation of Russian national teams and officials in FIBA basketball and 3x3 basketball competitions until further notice. The Russian national team was expelled from the 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup.
• AusCycling announced a ban on Russian or Belarusian teams at the 2022 UCI Road World Championships to be held in Australia in September. Cyclists from Russia and Belarus were also banned from all events in the UK by British Cycling and in the Netherlands by the Royal Dutch Cycling Union.
• The World Speed Skating Championships and World Junior Figure Skating Championships banned all Russian and Belarusian athletes.
• The International Ski Federation cancelled all skiing events in Russia while the Norwegian Ski Federation told Russian athletes "we do not want your participation" in its upcoming events.
• The World Curling Federation proposed a rule to ban Russian athletes and moved the 2022 European Curling Championships away from Perm.
• The International Federation for Equestrian Sports removed all events from Russia and Belarus.
• The Fédération Internationale d'Escrime, which governs fencing, banned all Russian and Belarusian athletes. Ukraine pulled out of the 2022 Fencing World Cup to avoid facing Russia.
• The World Karate Federation relocated the 2022 Karate1 Premier League away from Moscow.
• The World Squash Federation relocated the 2022 World Junior Squash Championships away from Saint Petersburg.
• World Taekwondo banned Russian athletes from competing at its events and will no longer organise or recognise events in Russia and Belarus. Furthermore, it stripped Vladamir Putin of the honorary black belt given to him in 2013.
• International Skating Union, on 1 March 2022, banned competitors and officials from Russia and Belarus from taking part in its international events, until further notice, making the skaters ineligible for the 2022 World Figure Skating Championships.

Technology

• Apple stopped selling products in Russia. This also includes the suspension of Apple Pay.
• Oracle suspended all operations in Russia.
• SAP paused sales in Russia.
• Telecommunications company Ericsson suspended all deliveries to Russia.
• Snapchat stopped running ads in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine and halts ad sales.
• Reddit prohibited links to Russian state media and rejected any advertisement from any Russian-based entity, government or private.
• Domain registrar and hosting provider Namecheap terminated its service to all Russian customers, requiring users to switch providers by 22 March 2022. Namecheap allowed exceptions for "all anti-regime media, protest resources, and any type of websites that are helping to end this war and regime".
• Domain registrar GoDaddy stopped supporting new registrations for the .ru extension. Registrants are also unable to sell or transfer existing domains to any party for profit.
• Uber distanced itself from Russian company Yandex.Taxi by ending its partnership agreement and three Uber executives resign from its board. Uber agreed to allow Yandex to purchase its 29% stake in the company.
• Search engine DuckDuckGo paused its partnership with Yandex Search.
• Rakuten removed Russian ads from its messaging app Viber.
• Microsoft suspended new sales of its products and services in Russia.
• Networking company Cisco suspended all deliveries to Russia and Belarus.
• Samsung suspended shipments to Russia and is donating $6,000,000 in aid. Samsung Pay is also suspended in Russia.
• Panasonic suspended shipments and ended operations in Russia, while donating ¥20 million in aid to Ukrainian refugees under the Polish Red Cross.

Transport

Countries which banned Russian airlines from their airspace in blue

• Airbus suspended support for Russian airlines, and suspended services provided by the Airbus Engineering Centre in Russia.
• Boeing suspended 'major operations' in Russia including support for Russian airlines.
• The European Union, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States closed their airspace to all Russian airlines and Russian-registered private jets.
• Delta Air Lines suspended its code sharing partnership with Russian airliner Aeroflot.
• Embraer announced the halting of supply of parts and aircraft to Russia.
• Airline booking service Sabre Corporation terminated its booking agreement with Aeroflot.

See also

• Do not buy Russian goods!
• List of people sanctioned during the Russo-Ukrainian War