SIEMENS has announced it will exit the Russian market as a result of the Ukraine war, with the company starting proceedings to wind down its industrial operations and all industrial business activities.

The financial impact of the decision was reported as part of the regular announcement of the company’s second quarter results on May 12.

After the start of the war, Siemens put all new business in and international deliveries to Russia and Belarus on hold. The company says the comprehensive international sanctions, as well as current and potential countermeasures, “impact the company’s business activities in Russia, particularly rail service and maintenance.”

“We condemn the war in Ukraine and have decided to carry out an orderly process to wind down our industrial business activities in Russia,” says Siemens president and CEO, Mr Roland Busch. “This was not an easy decision, given our duty of care for our employees and long-standing customer relationships, in a market where we have been active for almost 170 years. We are evaluating the impact on our people and we will continue to support them to the best of our abilities. At the same time, we provide humanitarian assistance to our colleagues and the people of Ukraine and stand with the international community in calling for peace.”

In 2010, the company signed a $US 2.98bn agreement with Russian Railways (RZD) to supply 240 EMUs based on Siemens' Desiro platform, modified for the Russian market. RZD also worked with Siemens on the 250km/h Sapsan EMUs delivered from 2009 onwards that operate between Moscow, St Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod, and Lastochka EMUs delivered from 2013 onwards.

More recently in November 2021, the Engineering Centre for Railway Transport, a joint venture between Russian Railways (RZD) and Sinara Transport Machines (STM), signed a cooperation agreement with Siemens Mobility for the development and production of a new high-speed train for Russia.