Multinationals halt operations in Ukraine and move employees to safety, 24 February 2022

Multinational corporations began closing their operations in Ukraine and moving employees to safety...as executives grappled with the implications of a full-scale invasion by Russia and the impact of widely swinging stock and commodity prices.

Carlsberg AG, one of the world’s largest brewers, said it had suspended operations at two factories near heavy Russian assaults, in eastern Ukraine and in Kyiv, in order to protect workers. The Denmark-based conglomerate, which employs 1,300 people in the country, mostly Ukrainian nationals, also temporarily closed a third brewery in Lviv after natural gas supplies that powered the operation were disrupted...

At Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG, which provides transport and logistics services, the last of 480 employees at its terminal in the port of Odessa evacuated...after safely seeing off two cargo ships...In a sign that the conflict may not be short-lived, the company said it would pay employees one month’s salary in advance to allow them to “stock up on essential goods.”

ArcelorMittal, which operates one of Europe’s biggest steel mills in central Ukraine, said it would slow production to “a technical minimum” and was stopping work at its underground mines. The company employs 29,000 workers and contractors in the country.

Cargill, the U.S.-based agricultural giant and one of the largest foreign investors in Ukraine...said it was “working to determine if there are disruptions or impacts to our operations in the region"...

Other companies with substantial operations in Russia, including Airbus and Exxon Mobil, issued statements saying they were also bracing for the announcement of harsh new sanctions against the country by Western allies...