Dell ceases all operations in Russia after office closes in August

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MOSCOW — Dell Technologies Inc. said on Saturday it ceased all operations in Russia after closing its offices in mid-August, the latest in a growing list of Western companies to leave Russia.

The US computer company, a key server supplier to Russia, has joined others in scaling back operations since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine on February 24.

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Dell suspended sales in Ukraine and Russia in February, saying it would monitor the situation to determine next steps.

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“In mid-August, we closed our offices and ceased all Russian operations,” Dell spokesman Mike Siemienas told Reuters.

« Last February, we took the decision not to sell, service or support products in Russia, Belarus and the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, in addition to the already embargoed Crimea. »

Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea to Ukraine in 2014 and recognized self-declared, breakaway republics in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions in February, moves condemned by the Ukraine and Western countries, which have imposed sanctions on Russia.

Russia’s Industry Ministry said on Friday that many researchers and engineers working for Dell in Russia had already been offered new jobs, after media reports that the company was pulling out completely.

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Technology-focused publication CNews reported this week that Dell would leave Russia altogether and lay off all of its local staff. The IT-focused news portal TAdviser published a similar report.

« We are monitoring the development of the situation, » TASS news agency said on Friday, citing Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Vasily Shpak.

« According to our data, the vast majority of Dell’s R&D center specialists and support engineers in St. Petersburg and Moscow have already received job offers with a competitive salary from Russian producers. »

(Reporting by Alexander Marrow in Moscow and Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Christina Fincher and Edmund Blair)