Nokia to leave Russian market, 2,000 employees overblown

Nokia will tug out of the Russian market, meaning firing some 2,000 staff the Finnish telecoms suppliers have in the country, the company said Tuesday.

The report comes a day after competitor Ericsson decided to suspend its task in the country indefinitely.

Hundreds of major Western companies have declared the suspension of their tasks or their departure from Russia since the conquering of Ukraine on February 24 and the severe punishment imposed on Moscow.

Nokia, which ended deliveries to the country at the beginning of March, “can now announce that we will exit the Russian market,” the giants of mobile telecoms said in a report.

“It has been clear for Nokia since the early days of the invasion that continuing our presence in Russia would not be possible,” CEO Pekka Lundmark said in a post on Twitter.

Nokia has 2,000 employees in Russia, including about 200 working in research and development, a spokeswoman told AFP.

“Unfortunately in these circumstances, redundancies are unavoidable. However, for certain roles that can be done outside of Russia, we will offer relocation,” Maria Vaismaa, Head of Public relations for Nokia, wrote in an email.

“The safety and wellbeing of our employees is our priority and we aim to manage this change in an orderly manner,” she added.

The move will result in a provision of 100 million euros ($108.6 million) in Nokia’s first-quarter accounts, due to be published on April 28, the group said.

Russia accounted for less than two percent of Nokia’s 2021 net sales and the group said it was maintaining its financial forecasts for 2022 “considering the strong demand we see in other regions.”

On Monday, Swedish rival Ericsson declared an indefinite suspension of its operations in Russia and said it would put its 600 employees on paid leave.

The departure of the two Western big guns in the world of the 4G and 5G markets clears the way for China’s Huawei in Russia.

Huawei has been blocking out new networks in the US and many European states as Western officials voice concerns its technology could be used as a Trojan horse for Chinese espionage — claims the company declines.