Multinationals are fleeing Russia in a huge exodus

Large multinational companies are fleeing Russia, as the international community moves to isolate the nation over its invasion of Ukraine.

From oil giants to media companies and sporting bodies, Russia is facing a multi-billion dollar exodus.

For decades, Russia was promising to be the new frontier. Even Donald Trump had hoped to build a Trump tower in Moscow.

But it shouldn’t have been a surprise that it would end this way. After all, look at the mess Donald Trump walked into. The first two years of his Presidency mired in scandal over his dealings with Russia.

Western oil and gas companies have spent decades and billions of dollars making investments in the country, linking the vast natrual reserves to customers across Europe.

But not anymore. Perhaps it was never as easy as they thought it would be, though energy companies are used to doing high business in low places.

Now, one by one, companies like Shell and BP are heading for the exit, as they weigh up the damage to their reputation if they do business with Vladimir Putin.

Shell pulled out on Monday, and warned investors it would face impairments for doing leaving. Whatever the price, it was worth it.

Experts say if multinational businesses are willing to walk away, many other industries will follow.

The music stops

Disney pulled plans to open its latest stage show in Russia’s capital city. Warner Bros, Sony and Disney have cancelled distribution plans for their upcoming films.

It’s not just their corporate reputations on the line, but also the key question: how to do business when the sweeping sanctions hit Russia.

It’s complicated their ability to even think about surviving in Russia.

Then there’s BP, which has often defended Putin’s regime. Now they’ve had enough too, deserting a 20 per stake in Russia’s state owned energy firm Rosneft – the energy giant with assets worth over $200 billion dollars. But for much longer?

American freight companies FedEx and UPS have also cut off Russia.

The US sanctioned Moscow following the 2014 invasion of Crimea. But European companies are far more exposed. Perhaps they had no choice but to dance with the devil, after all the rush to end emissions and close coal power stations only forced their dependency on Russian gas.

Now the world is waiting for the Kremlin’s response. And the biggest mystery is whether Russia will retaliate and cut off the gas to millions of Europeans.

Afterall without SWIFT, how could they possibly pay?