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Zara, Paypal and Samsung latest global firms to suspend operations in Russia after its invasion of Ukraine

Zara, Paypal and Samsung are the latest international firms to suspend trading in Russia after it invaded Ukraine.

The clothes retailer’s owner, Inditex, will shut all 502 stores of its eight brands, including Bershka, Stradivarius and Oysho, from Sunday.

Payment giant Paypal cited “violent military aggression in Ukraine” as the reason to shut down its services.




Samsung – Russia’s top supplier of smartphones – is suspending shipments over “geopolitical developments”.

Other global brands, including Apple, H&M and Ikea, have already stopped selling in Russia.

The clothes store closures are expected to hit more than 9,000 of Inditex’s employees who work in Russia.



Online payments company Paypal has also shut down services in Russia but said it would support withdrawals “for a period of time”.

This would ensure that account balances were dispersed “in line with applicable laws and regulations”, it said.

The Ukrainian government had been calling on Paypal to quit Russia and help its officials with fundraising.

Samsung, the leading supplier of smartphones in Russia ahead of Xiaomi and Apple, will suspend shipments to the country. It is unclear whether Samsung’s shops will close.

Reports suggest that Ukraine’s vice-prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, who is responsible for digital operations, wrote to Samsung’s vice-chairman to urge them to temporarily cease supplying services and products to Russia.

“We believe that such actions will motivate the youth and active population of Russia to proactively stop the disgraceful military aggression,” Mr Fedorov said in the letter posted on his Twitter account on Friday.

In a statement, the South Korean company said it would “continue to actively monitor the complex situation to determine its next steps”.