MOSCOW | American sporting goods manufacturer Nike announced on Thursday that it was finally exiting the Russian market and had no intention of reopening its stores, which had been temporarily closed as part of sanctions against Moscow over its offensive in Ukraine.
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“Nike Inc. decided to leave the Russian market. As a result, Nike.com and the Nike Mobile App are no longer available in this region. Nike stores have recently been temporarily closed and will not reopen,” the group said in a post on its Russian website.
After McDonald’s or Ikea, this is another iconic western brand leaving the Russian market after being pushed there at the end of the Soviet Union.
The group gave no further details on the reasons for this decision, only pointing out that “Lately, Nike cannot guarantee the delivery of goods to Russian buyers.”
Nike states that orders have been canceled as a result and would be refunded.
At the beginning of March, a few days after Russian troops invaded Ukraine, Nike announced the temporary closure of all branches directly in Russia, i.e. 116 stores.
On May 25, the group announced the suspension of its sales in partner stores in Russia and the suspension of all collaborations with retailers in the country, while indicating that it will continue to pay its employees.
Russian authorities reacted aggressively to these cascading announcements, issuing thinly veiled threats to nationalize foreign groups’ assets if they decided to leave the country in a hurry without respecting labor laws.
McDonald’s restaurants were bought by a Russian investor. The latter began relaunching a fast-food chain there in June, under new colors and with a new name.
In Moscow, bus stops were decorated with anti-Swedish posters that read: “We (the Russians, ed.) are against Nazism, they (the Swedes, ed.) are for it”. Among other things, these posters refer to the founder of the Ikea furniture chain Ingvar Kamprad, who presented himself as pro-Nazi.
On social networks and in the media, Russians have also called for a boycott of products from major Western brands that have ceased operations in the country, such as Apple and Chanel.