In the wake of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, SAP and Oracle have both announced that they are suspending all business operations in Russia.
The decision from the two major IT vendors came in the wake of a request from Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who posted letters he’d written to both companies on Twitter yesterday.
In his letter to Oracle, Fedorov wrote: “The IT industry always supports values of responsibility and democracy…now, more than ever, people’s lives depend on your choice.”
Oracle replied to the tweet, stating that on behalf of the people of Ukraine and its elected government, the company has “suspended all operations in the Russian Federation”. However, the company has not provided any further comment on the situation since the tweet was posted.
SAP also responded publicly, publishing a blog post by CEO Christian Klein, titled ‘Standing in Solidarity’ on Wednesday. “Like the rest of the world, we are watching the war in Ukraine with horror and condemn the invasion in the strongest possible terms,” Klein wrote.
SAP says it has stopped business in Russia in alignment with global sanctions and is pausing all sales of SAP services and products in the country.
It is currently unclear what this means for existing Russian customers of SAP and Oracle software.
Other organizations, including Amazon, Apple, Disney, Google, and Ford have all taken steps to limit the availability of their products and services in the region, alongside financial services, entertainment and oil companies. Music streaming platform Spotify also announced its office in Russia would be closing indefinitely.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Lithuania this morning, alongside leaders from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, UK foreign secretary Liz Truss said “it’s vital that we keep our foot on the gas”, when it comes to sanctions against Russia,
Russia has responded with the promise of tax exemptions and immunity from military conscription for domestic IT workers.
