NetApp is suspending its Russian operations in light of the Ukraine invasion.
The company has employees in Russia and sells to local businesses via an OEM agreement with Fujitsu. Tech companies that have already withdrawn from Russia include Amazon, Alphabet, AMD, Apple, Cisco, Cogent Communications, Dell, Global Foundries, Google, HP, SAP, Oracle, HPE, IBM, Intel, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, Samsung, SAP, TSMC, Veeam, VMware, and more.
A NetApp statement said: “NetApp is complying with the legal framework that the governments of the United States, European Union and United Kingdom have recently established, including all sanctions and regulations that are applicable to our business.”
Therefore: “As a direct result, NetApp has temporarily suspended business operations in Russia and Belarus.”
Other big vendors have made similar noises. Cisco CEO Chuck Robins said in a March 3 statement: “Cisco is stopping all business operations in Russia and Belarus and will continue to focus on supporting our Ukrainian employees, customers and partners while providing humanitarian aid and accelerating our efforts to protect organisations in Ukraine from cyber threats. We stand with Ukraine and condemn this unjustified war.”
A March 4 statement by Microsoft President and Vice Chair Brad Smith said: “Like the rest of the world, we are horrified, angered and saddened by the images and news coming from the war in Ukraine and condemn this unjustified, unprovoked and unlawful invasion by Russia.”
Fujitsu said late last week it will “donate 1 million US dollars (approximately 115 million yen) to UNHCR, the UN Refugees Agency, to provide urgently needed humanitarian support for the many people displaced by the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and countries in the surrounding region.” The company refused to comment on whether it will pull business operations out of Russia.
NetApp added: “We are deeply concerned about the safety and security of the international community and our thoughts of care, support and resiliency are with all those impacted during this troubling time. NetApp is committed to the safety of our workers in Russia and Ukraine, and we are in constant contact with them to offer support. As we navigate this crisis, we encourage care, compassion, and empathy within our global communities.”
The wider European region “is an important market for NetApp, and we will continue to work carefully to assess and respond to any updates across the region as the situation evolves.”
