Chinese Huawei preparing to leave Russia
The Chinese manufacture company Huawei intends to leave the Russian market and is suspending it works with local counterparties. The manufacturer of smartphones and electronics intends to close its head office. The company has also stopped supplying new products to the Russian market, focusing on selling off the remaining inventory, reports the Russian newspaper Izvestia, citing its sources
"Huawei really does not supply its devices to Russia directly now," one of the sources close to one of the cellular companies confirmed to the publication.
The Moscow office of the Chinese company is likely to close from February 1, 2023. It is from this date that its office in the Krylatsky Hills business center is leased. The lease is 8 million rubles ($13,0346) per month. At the moment, the company is focused selling off the remaining inventory, new products are not delivered to Russia.
However, according to Izvestia, Huawei’s decision to leave Russia does not mean that its products will disappear from the Russian market. They will most likely be imported through gray market, through intermediaries or official distributors. Public relations manager of Consumer Business Group Maria Krivtsova, who represents Huawei in Russia, did not confirm this, noting only that "she does not have such information." However, the company's decision to leave Russia is also indirectly confirmed by the relocation of its Moscow employees to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the newspaper notes.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Chinese brands have avoided supporting Russia in the conflict, fearing Western sanctions. Many of them have decided to leave the Russian market. The exception is the automotive industry, where Chinese brands are increasing their presence, but due to the low buying power of Russians and a decrease in consumer demand, they are in no hurry to quickly expand their presence in the Russian market.