Two of the five largest Dutch pension funds are completely withdrawing from investments in Russia.
Civil service and education fund ABP, the fifth largest pension fund in the world, will sell all investments in Russian companies. bpfBouw, the pension fund for the construction sector, will also exclude Russian investments.
With those measures announced on Wednesday, the funds join a long line of companies that are taking action against Russia because of the war in Ukraine. Sometimes these are more far-reaching measures than international sanctions prescribe to companies.
ABP has approximately EUR 520 million in investments in Russia, out of a total portfolio of EUR 539 billion. At bpfBouw, this concerns 58 million euros. It may take time for funds to sell all of these investments. Not only is it difficult to find buyers for shares and bonds that are sold en masse. In Russia, there is also a temporary ban on the sale of Russian shares by foreign investors.
ING also announced measures on Wednesday. The bank is not taking on any new Russian customers for the time being. It will also not ask for a commission to transfer money to Ukraine in the near future.
Banks have already had to freeze assets of a number of prominent Russians because of the sanctions. They are also no longer allowed to make transfers to and from seven Russian banks that were officially kicked out of the Swift payment system by the EU on Wednesday.
Temporary ban
Companies outside the Netherlands are also taking measures. German industrial giant Siemens is suspending business in Russia for the time being. The company has a multi-billion dollar contract with the Russian railways for the construction of high-speed trains. Siemens will continue to carry out maintenance for the time being, message the Financial Times.
Earlier this week, Apple announced that it would stop selling its products in Russia. Major film studios such as Walt Disney and Sony are also not releasing new films in Russia for the time being. Movies like The Batman therefore do not have a Russian premiere.
Furthermore, car manufacturers have taken action. For example, Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin and GM (maker of the Cadillac, among others) are suspending exports to Russia. Ford and Daimler Truck also stop trading with Russia.
And then there are aircraft manufacturer Boeing, delivery services Uber and Bolt, white goods manufacturer Electrolux, and laptop builder Dell: they have also announced measures. It’s certainly not an exhaustive list, and it could get longer in the coming days.
How much the suspension of trading hurts businesses will vary. For example, Russia is not an important market for car manufacturers such as GM and Aston Martin.
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