Samsung Stops Shipments to Russia

Samsung Electronics announced they would suspend all their shipments to Russia “due to current geopolitical developments” in the country. They further pointed out they will monitor the situation to decide what to do next.

Among products that have been suspended, smartphones, consumer electronics, and semiconductors are the most important ones. The company didn’t say whether they’ll suspend their services in Russia as of this moment.

Many shipping companies have made the decision to stop shipping to Russia amid the crisis. Shipping companies like Maersk and MSC halted all their operations at Russian ports. 

Similarly, Hyundai Merchant Marine is a shipping company that decided on a similar sanction, suspending their cargo service in St. Petersburg, which blocked Korean companies like LG, Samsung, and Hyundai from delivering their products to Russia.

This eventuality came after Ukraine’s vice prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, asked Samsung to halt supplying products and services to the country in a letter sent through his official Twitter account to Samsung’s Vice Chairman Han Jong-Hee on Friday.

In his tweet featuring the letter, he asked the company to be “part of history,” pointing out that modern technology might be the answer to the current violent situation in Ukraine that uses weapons of war to damage the country and its people.

Once Samsung announced the suspension, they added they plan on supporting humanitarian efforts like aid for refugees. They donated $6 million as a company and added further donations by their employees. 

Samsung is not the only company that made such a decision. Other big tech companies like Apple and Microsoft have also chosen to stop shipping to Russia.