Nokia announces exit from the Russian market

Nokia has announced its exit from Russian market in a press statement released today. Attributing its decision to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Nokia assesses very low impact of this decision on its earnings.

As per the statement, Nokia will continue to provide support to maintain the existing networks in Russia even after its exit. Russia accounted for only 2% of Nokia’s net sales in 2021 and other regions are showing strong demand for Nokia products.

Read the full press release below,

Nokia to exit the Russian market, no impact to financial outlook

Espoo, Finland – It has been clear for Nokia since the early days of the invasion of Ukraine that continuing our presence in Russia would not be possible. Over the last weeks we have suspended deliveries, stopped new business and are moving our limited R&D activities out of Russia. We can now announce we will exit the Russian market. During this process our priority continues to be the safety and wellbeing of our employees.

For humanitarian reasons, Western governments have expressed concerns about the risk of critical telecommunication network infrastructure in Russia failing. They have also emphasized the importance of ensuring the continued flow of information and access to the internet which provides outside perspectives to the Russian people. Therefore, as we exit we will aim to provide the necessary support to maintain the networks and are applying for the relevant licenses to enable this support in compliance with current sanctions.

This is the most responsible course of action for Nokia to take as we exit the Russian market.

Regarding the financial impact of the decision, Russia accounted for less than 2% of our net sales in 2021. Considering the strong demand we see in other regions – we do not expect this decision to impact our ability to achieve our 2022 outlook provided in the Nokia financial report for Q4 and full year 2021 issued on 3 February 2022. We expect this decision to lead to a provision in Q1 of approximately €100m which will impact our reported but not comparable financials.