IKEA, Ingka to scale down in Russia and Belarus

The Swedish home furnishing giant Inter IKEA Group and the holding company Ingka Group announced the next step they take to scale down in Russia and Belarus as a result of Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine that “has already had a terrible impact on so many people’s lives.”

The IKEA Retail business, which was paused in March, will remain stopped, and the workforce will be reduced, while Ingka is planning to sell out its home furnishing inventory in Russia in the scaling down process. IKEA-owned manufacturing facilities– four plants in Russia’s Leningrad, Kirov, and Novgorod regions – will also reduce the workforce and start looking for buyers. Finally, both import and export of IKEA products to and from Russia and Belarus will also remain stopped, and the group’s purchase and logistics offices in Moscow and Minsk will close permanently.

On 3 March, Inter IKEA Group and Ingka Group announced the pausing of IKEA operations in Russia and Belarus as a consequence of the war in Ukraine, guaranteeing six-month support and security to their employees. “Unfortunately, the circumstances have not improved and the devastating war continues. Businesses and supply chains across the world have been heavily impacted and we do not see that it is possible to resume operations any time soon” the statement on the IKEA site reads.

Photo: IKEA had been trying to open stores in Russia since the 1970s and in 2000 it finally got the first one off the ground in a landmark event that ushered in the post-Yeltsin boom. / wiki

Sources: IKEA; Intellinews