Nike Announces It Will Fully Exit Russia

BEAVERTON, OR —Nike announced Thursday that it is fully exiting Russia in response to that country's military aggression in Ukraine, according to Reuters.

The Beaverton-based shoe and apparel giant had suspended online sales and operations at all of its Nike-owned and-operated stores in Russia on March 3. The only stores still open were those operated by independent partners, according to CNBC.

In May, Russian media reported that Nike had not renewed agreements with its largest franchisee in Russia, Inventive Retail Group, which operated 37 Nike-branded stores in Russia through its subsidiary Up And Run.

On Thursday, Nike emailed a statement to Reuters that said the company was done in Russia, where it has been active for 28 years.

"Nike has made the decision to leave the Russian marketplace. Our priority is to ensure we are fully supporting our employees while we responsibly scale down our operations over the coming months," the company said in the statement.

CNBC called the move "largely symbolic" since Nike gets less than 1 percent of its revenue from Ukraine and Russia combined.

Nike joins other Western brands like McDonald's, Google and Renault, which also recently announced they will leave Russia completely, according to Reuters.

CNBC reported that foreign companies seeking to exit Russia face the prospect of new laws being passed in the coming weeks to allow the Russian government to seize assets and impose criminal penalties. That possibility likely led several businesses to accelerate their departure from the country.

Nike's sportswear rivals also have been pulling back in Russia.

In March, German-based Adidas said it was shutting its Russian stores and pausing online sales, while German-based Puma also suspended its operations in Russia shortly after the latter country launched its war against Ukraine on Feb. 24.