ABB to quit Russian market over war in Ukraine, Photo ABB

Russia accounts for only one or two percent of ABB's overall annual turnover and the decision to pull out will have an estimated financial impact in the second quarter of around $57 million, the group calculated.

"ABB has decided to exit the Russian market due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and impact of related international sanctions," the group said in a statement.

Russia accounts for only one or two percent of ABB's overall annual sales and the decision to pull out will have an estimated financial impact in the second quarter of around $57 million, the group calculated.

A large number of major western companies have pulled out of Russia since Moscow invaded its pro-Western neighbour on February 24.

"When the war broke out, ABB stopped taking new orders in Russia," the Swiss group said.

At the same time, it said it continued to fulfil "a small number of existing contractual obligations with local customers, in compliance with applicable sanctions."

Most of ABB's dedicated Russian workforce has been on leave since March "and the company will do its best to support them as it realigns its operations in a controlled manner," it said.

ABB has about 750 people in Russia and two production sites in the country located in the Moscow region and Lipetsk, as well as several service centres.

Separately, the group said that its net profit fell by 50 percent to $379 million in the second quarter, largely as a result of one-off charges, but also the cost of withdrawing from Russia.

Sales, on the other hand, grew by six percent to $7.2 billion in the period from April to June, ABB said.