HP Shuts Down Russia Operations Over Ukraine War

The company’s Russia business netted $1 billion in 2021, but CEO Enrique Lores says HP will add to the current shipment ban by winding down all operations

HP Inc. Tuesday said during its quarterly earnings call that it would cease all operations in Russia.

In February, HP suspended all shipments to Russia and Belarus in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Considering the current environment and long-term outlook for Russia, we have decided to stop our Russia activity and have begun the process of fully winding down our operations there.”

A statement from HP says the company employs about 200 people in Russia and that the company is “committed to supporting them during this process.”

[RELATED STORY: 10 Tech Giants That Have Cut Ties With Russia After Ukraine Invasion]

“We’re … thinking about the people of Ukraine,” said Lores. “More than three months into the war with Russia, the devastation and suffering across Ukraine is difficult to comprehend… we continue to mobilize resources to support (the people of Ukraine).”

Marie Myers, HP’s chief financial officer, told analysts and reporters during an earnings call that HP’s Russia business accounted for $1 billion of the company’s 2021 portfolio. Myers said the company would adjust next quarter’s earnings to include a 4-cent per share charge to account for the wind down of Russia business. In total, HP says earnings will take an 11-cent per share cut due to Russia, the $3.3 billion Poly acquisition and real estate transactions.

HP Russia’s website was still operational Tuesday night. HP was given a “B” grade by a Yale University School of Management team tracking companies’ Russia dealings and to what degree business there is curtailed by individual companies. A complete withdrawal will likely bump up the company’s score.

Steven Tian, research director of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute and one of the report authors, via email to CRN applauded HP’s decision to pull Russian business completely. “HP, like many peer companies, still harbored hopes of eventually returning to the Russian market if the conflict came to a close,” he wrote. “At this point it is abundantly obvious that if (Russian Federation President Vladmir) Putin has his way, there will be no end to the invasion… More and more companies like HP are coming to grips with the fact that it will be substantively impossible for western companies to do business in Russia for a long time to come.”